Jim's comments BEFORE the interview:       On tonight's show, we're taking the pulse of this nation's economy... with two important CEOs... and one is at the pinnacle of the housing business and then, after the break, another CEO, who has to cope with these ridiculously-high energy costs, as the largest consumer of energy in his business...

I want to know, how are they, and how are they doing?...  And how are we coping as a nation, with the two strongest headwinds I have seen, since I started trading stocks in 1980... the housing crash, and the skyrocketing price of energy.

My first guest is Bob Toll...  He is the CEO of Toll Brothers (TOL), and a remarkable man.  Why?  Because, when housing was bad, he said it was bad!...  This man is the Diogenes of the housing business.  Now, you know we've hated the homebuilders for a long time on this show...  You know that I think they're a part of the problem, when it comes to the current financial mess.  They keep pumping them out...

But, on the other hand, I've long realized that it's too late to sell homebuilders...  They're up for the year.  Right now, we're waiting for a bottom in housing...  We have gotten a bottom in the housing stocks.  We're waiting for the right time to be able to say to you, not only have they bottomed, but we can make money... because, when the bottom comes for the homebuilders, that's going to be the bottom for everything else.

House price depreciation is the linchpin that's driving this country down.  If we get house price appreciation, it is hallelujah...  But, if we get stabilization, we're on the road to recovery...

Now, TOL - which is one of the high-end... well, I think the best of the high-end homebuilders - is a little less vulnerable to some of the vicissitudes of the economy.  It reported today.  The company's quarterly sales came in at $818 million.  That's about $60 million higher than expected...

Remember what we're looking for here... we want to work off excess housing inventory... to spot the housing market bottom.  From these results, I can't say how close we are to the moment, but it looks like we're closer...  We definitely want to get a better feel for this, as the housing industry is at the core of our domestic woes...

So, we're really lucky to have the Diogenes of the homebuilding business, Bob Toll, the CEO of Toll Brothers (TOL), here tonight via satellite, to help explain his company, and where the industry is right now.  Mr. Toll, welcome to Mad Money...