Bill Rhodes

According to a trio of incisive trackers of the economic and investment scene, there are several ticking fiscal time bombs -- inconspicuous, and so far ignored -- that are waiting to explode.

Many on Wall Street have basically been pitching happy economic talk since early last year. Well, we're in early 2009 and now the bullish brigade is signaling yet another extension.

The World Economic Forum was more college than commitment. But this meeting, to my ears, was surprisingly candid and left its participants with plenty of homework.