(10/07) A High-Risk Market ...... Even before the twin hurricanes the consumer savings rate had turned negative, household debt was at record highs and home owners were using soaring home prices as huge ATM machines yielding hundreds of billions of dollars in cash. With housing prices starting to soften, energy prices still high and real wages under pressure, consumers’ ability to spend seems severely restricted in the period ahead. These trends have been further exacerbated by the two hurricanes that have created negative domino effects throughout the economy. So far consumers have felt the impact of higher gasoline prices, but...