I just got back from an appearance on CNBC about Countrywide Financial and wanted to give you a quick update on what's happening.

Bank of America has just announced it's going to buy Countrywide for about $4 billion in stock, and B of A thinks it's a bargain.

I disagree. Bank of America is diving into the world's biggest mortgage cesspool — tens of billions in loans that are quickly turning sour.

So unless the plan is to stiff taxpayers with Countrywide's sinking mortgages and other bad assets, this deal could cost Bank of America a heck of a lot more than $4 billion.

The big picture: The value of $13 trillion in U.S. mortgages is sinking at an alarming pace, faster than anyone believed possible. This means that asset values, book values, and earnings estimates based on mortgages are being widely — and wildly — overstated.

That's why Merrill Lynch has suddenly discovered a flood of mortgage losses on its books, and that's why it has just announced write-downs of $15 billion, nearly double its earlier estimates.

That's why Fed Chairman Bernanke has just warned the world about many of the economic troubles we've been warning you about for months.

And that's why I'm inviting you to join me for our free online conference on January 22.

Never lose sight of one fundamental reality: This crisis is spreading quickly and broadly. So the depth and breadth of your preparation for them will largely determine your investment success or failure in 2008.

This Is Going to Be Our Primary, Foundational
Online Briefing for 2008. You Must Not Miss It!

The title is PREVIEW 2008: Major Dangers and Massive Opportunities Ahead.

The time: 2 PM Eastern Time.

The date: Tuesday, January 22.

The registration: Free. Just click here.

In this fast-paced 60-minute online briefing, we will reveal ...

 The Big Picture for 2008: The megatrends that will directly impact every dollar you earn, spend, save and invest. Plus the shocking new trend that that will create the greatest dangers — and the greatest profit opportunities — in the year ahead.

 What Nobody's Telling You About This Great Real Estate Bust and Credit Crunch: How long will these twin crises be with us? How deep will the damage be to banks and brokers? How will they impact the economy and the stocks YOU own now?

 What's Ahead for Key U.S. Stock Sectors in 2008? Is the plunge in subprime lenders and financials mostly behind us? Or is there a lot more to come? Was last week's tech bust a tempest in a teapot or the beginning of Tech Wreck #2?

 ETF disasters and ETF bonanzas: Which ETFs will sink in 2008? Which will soar? How can you use ETFs to turn sour lemons into the sweetest lemonade? What about international ETFs?

 The Outlook for the Dollar, Inflation and Foreign Currencies: Will the dollar reverse its long decline? Or will it fall even faster in 2008? What do December's spikes in the PPI and CPI mean for your purchasing power and investments in the year ahead? What must you do now to protect yourself and prosper?

 Critical Forecasts for Oil, Gold, Silver, Food and Other Natural Resources: Are the record-high prices we're seeing signaling a top for natural resources? Or are they just the beginning of a major, multi-year bull market that could multiply your wealth? Which resources are the safest bets now? Which ones shouldn't you touch with a ten-foot pole?

 Urgent Self-Defense: What must you do now to insulate your wealth from the markets, sectors and investments most likely to crater in the year ahead? Which stocks and mutual funds should you drop like hot potatoes before they cost you?

 Specific Investment Recommendations to Help You Prosper: Where are the greatest profit opportunities in the year ahead? What should you be buying right now to harness the most powerful and the most irreversible financial trends we see ahead?

 And much more!

And best of all, this landmark online event won't cost you a single cent: It's my New Year's gift to help you protect yourself and profit.

But I need to know you're coming — so to register, just click here now.

Best wishes,

Martin

P.S. If you want to watch my CNBC video, click on the photo at the beginning of this article.

About Money and Markets

For more information and archived issues, visit http://www.moneyandmarkets.com

Money and Markets (MaM) is published by Weiss Research, Inc. and written by Martin D. Weiss along with Sean Brodrick, Larry Edelson, Michael Larson, Nilus Mattive, Tony Sagami, and Jack Crooks. To avoid conflicts of interest, Weiss Research and its staff do not hold positions in companies recommended in MaM, nor do we accept any compensation for such recommendations. The comments, graphs, forecasts, and indices published in MaM are based upon data whose accuracy is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Performance returns cited are derived from our best estimates but must be considered hypothetical in as much as we do not track the actual prices investors pay or receive. Regular contributors and staff include John Burke, Amber Dakar, Adam Shafer, Andrea Baumwald, Kristen Adams, Maryellen Murphy, Red Morgan, Jennifer Newman-Amos, Julie Trudeau, and Dinesh Kalera.

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This investment news is brought to you by Money and Markets. Money and Markets is a free daily investment newsletter from Martin D. Weiss and Weiss Research analysts offering the latest investing news and financial insights for the stock market, including tips and advice on investing in gold, energy and oil. Dr. Weiss is a leader in the fields of investing, interest rates, financial safety and economic forecasting. To view archives or subscribe, visit http://www.moneyandmarkets.com.

Housing and Foreclosure News

Optimists: House prices expected to fall until 2009 (articles.moneycentral.msn.com)
Paulson Credit Push Earns Jeers From Free-Marketers (bloomberg.com)
Disaster capitalism, the new Manifest Destiny (eyeonmiami.blogspot.com)
SIV Bailout Plan: Don't Ask, Don't Sell (seekingalpha.com)
Text of Paulson's Remarks on Housing (blogs.wsj.com)
As Defaults Rise, Washington Worries (nytimes.com)
Mortgage Securities Bailout Fund: A Bribe? (seekingalpha.com)
Banks May Pool Billions to Avert Securities Sell-Off (nytimes.com)
Boom Boom Tuesday (market-ticker.denninger.net)
Wells Fargo, Regions Financial, KeyCorp Profits Miss (bloomberg.com)
Wells Fargo Hit by Mortgage Woes (thestreet.com)
Foreigners Sold Record $69.3 Billion in U.S. Assets (bloomberg.com)
German bank hit by subprime crisis slashes results, directors leave (afp.google.com)
Builder D.R. Horton Orders Fall (cnbc.com)
D.R. Horton Orders Fall to Lowest in Almost Six Years (bloomberg.com)
Housebuilder Outlook Falls to Record Low (biz.yahoo.com)
8 Areas in the U.S. Most Unaffordable in World (efinancedirectory.com)
Blame the Downturn on Homebuilders and Banks (doctorhousingbubble.com)
Southern California house sales plunge 30 pct in Sept (reuters.com)
2005 San Diegeo Sales (sandicor.com)
2007 San Diego Sales (sandicor.com)

The-Next-Big-Bankruptcy MoneyandMarkets.com.