Even if the worst is over, the road to recovery will not be easy, swift or pain-free.

Quoted: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke declared Friday that the U.S. economy is on the verge of a long-awaited recovery after enduring a brutal recession and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Economic activity in both the U.S. and around the world appears to be "leveling out," and "the prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good," Bernanke said in a speech at an annual Fed conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

Quoted: Oil hit another record high but has since pulled back. The dollar has finally started to show some signs of life. And for the most part, corporate earnings were - as Larry David would say - pretty pretty good. Boeing (BA, Fortune 500) blew away earnings estimates. Ford (F, Fortune 500) posted a surprise profit. And even though investors Friday appear to be disappointed by the forecast from Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) for the current quarter, the company issued a healthy outlook for its next fiscal year.

The Fed cut short-term rates again. These moves are generally seen as being favorable to real estate, as they influence the rates on short-term adjustable-rate mortgage products.

However, there may be too much of a good thing. Continuing cuts to the funds rate signals that the Fed is concerned and has low confidence in the strength of the economy. The cuts that affect the short-term loan products may have short-term benefits, but at the cost of long-term problems - recession being one of them.

Quoted: Like many on Wall Street, he believes the global economy is at risk of falling into recession next year, in part because of a cutoff in lending triggered by the U.S. housing crisis and by rising losses at many banks.