Markets went up more than 2% today!

Wow, I always read doom predictions about the market at DU, but they never seem to materialize?? I'm so confused.

eom

Today was a terrific day for traders, but most people in the market are there for the long haul.

But without jobs and a lower national debt it means nothing..

When OPEC cuts off some of those barrels, prices gonna be rising.

WTF is you point? Daily flutuations don't mean jack shit bubba.

What? Are you a flippin' salesman of speculative ventures or something?

The Bush regime showed the first real signs of cracking this week.

Maybe the market-players are feeling optimistic that they all can get back to the business of making money, rather than just funneling it to Cheney's corrupt corporations.

Interesting that the day the only serious Bush scandal hits big, the market gets in a bullish mood.

and construction also. That is why the market went up.

with all the plant closings and layoffs that are occurring.

It sounds like so much smoke and mirrors, like all the other statistics that have been revised downward several months after the fact.

The products are still on the shelves, thanks to our most favored trading partners, the Chinese. I'd like to see the stats on how much of that "unexpected" construction was building factories in other countries, too.

He didn't mean that they'd kill us, he ment that the Soviets would drown us in goods. The massive Irony of IRONIES is that China has done what Khrushchev wanted to do!

They will bury us!

The larger picture is not in what the DOW industrial average is showing this day or this hour, but that the USA is moving its capacity to engage in manufacturing overseas, to avoid minimum wages and environmental standards. Stock players continue to buy and sell on the local dips and spikes in order to make a profit, and today more people were buying. They'll be selling again next week to engage in "profit taking", and overall it won't matter at all in terms of the long-term trends.

Maybe it becomes more real when your employer decides to boost profits by laying off half its local manufacturing workforce. Hell, even the call centers for product support get routed through Bangladesh these days.

THAT, quinnox, is the doom and gloom of a "jobless recovery".

You want some more doom and gloom? Global oil production is at its peak, while the human population continues to grow exponentially. In my child's lifetime, he will be seeing society's approach to the backside of the Hubbard resource curve, and the entire paradigm of modern agriculture (using petroleum to produce food) will have to change. Now that's doom and gloom.

It's also reality.

Shit. I hope like hell it goes up even more tomorrow. And Friday too. My retirement check depends on the market doing well. But trying to make a big thing out of a one day gain is like celebrating winning one hand at the poker table while the night is still young. That is bad luck. Knock on some wood or something.

Don

I know what your saying, I just got a little excited. This is the biggest one day jump in the Dow since June.

You didn't knock on wood. Did you?

Don

my kid's college fund is mostly in the market.

The Markets don't react to bad news anymore. We have a quagmire in Iraq, scandals in the WH, job losses month after month, record deficit, consumer confidence in the toilet, etc.

Anyway .... here is a good article on this subject.

The 'OK' Economy
by Jim Puplava

Profits are rising, stocks are up and the economy is improving. For the first time in a long time, the experts seem to have gotten their forecasts right this year. The economy and market seem to be doing just what the experts have predicted. Call it luck or call it smarts, the stock market is up after three years of producing negative returns. Investors are hoping to recoup heavy losses of the last three years with expectations that the glory days of stock investing are back. Experts are guardedly optimistic and expect further market gains for the remainder of the year. Last week's cover story in Barron’s, ”The Wall Street Forecast: Measured Rally” calls for stock market gains between 5-10% by the end of the year. The consensus of opinion seems to believe that the S&P 500 will hit 1,100 to 1,150 in the next six months. Experts advise over weighting portfolios towards stocks.

The reason for this optimism is historically low interest rates, tax cuts, firming business sentiment and improving economic numbers. In the latest survey of Wall Street pros, very few bears walk the Street. There may be a few closet bears, but if they exist, they are keeping remarkably quiet about their views. One of the few bears out there is Merrill’s Richard Bernstein. Bernstein believes that reported earnings aren’t what they are cracked up to be, a view that this author shares and will illustrate in just a few moments.

"No Problem" Market Priced for Perfection

Currently the bulls are firmly in charge of the markets and John Q. has been drawn back into stocks. Public sentiment at all levels is decidedly bullish. It doesn’t matter what negative events transpire as the market just seems to shrug them off. Interest rates rise sharply—no problem. Violence in the Middle East and in Iraq—no problem. Aggressive earnings forecast and the return of shady to corporate accounting—no problem. The continuing saga of financial scandals is completely ignored as if they don’t exist. Not a week goes by without another scandal surfacing. This is a no problem stock market priced for perfection. On the surface it all looks perfect. In my view it is the set up for The Perfect Financial Storm. I believe—both fundamentally and technically—that the markets are being set up for distribution.

more...
http://www.financialsense.com/stormwatch/update.htm

DU market mavens can debunk it and make us all feel better?

the Dow has now come back to about 9,400.

So far in 2003, it's made back about exactly half of its losses from 2000, 2001 and 2002. Still way down from the 11,400 high of January 2000, but somewhat encouraging anyway.