Markets soar on positive factory reports... DJIA now at highest level since 10/15/2008

(psst.... The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act... AKA "Stimulus"..... is working)


http://www.cnbc.com/id/32268086



Now beginning to leave the "Bush Recession" and enter the "Obama Recovery".

But I am optimistic that this economy will be saved in time to boost Obama's reelection.

Those represent 50 percent increases from their low-water marks of a few months ago.

our cement plant is still closed...shovel ready projects? not around here. one factory here works two week a month and another shut it`s doors for good. over 5000 people are looking for employment in the surrounding counties.

maybe by 2012 they`ll be able to find something but it will never be as good a job that they left.

The stock market is now merely a barometer of ... itself. It's a gamed casino propped up with taxpayer bailouts. Paying people to buy cars isn't a realistic model on which to base a sound economy.

Goodbye housing bubble, hello stock market bubble.

It's a gamed casino propped up with taxpayer bailouts. :thumbsup:

The systemic problems that lead to "bubbles" and bust have not yet been addressed. It's clear that there's a lot of wealth looking for more wealth ... and the 'bet' seems to be on U.S. corporations due to EU (and Japan) attitudes regarding employment and the "social safety net" that corporations help subsidize. It'd be interesting to have an 'honest' assessment of the part derivatives are playing in the current run-up ... as well as ISO churns in the higher 'performing' stocks.

I've noted for many years the capitalization on "labor equity" ... that many employees make labor 'investments' in their companies that result in increased revenues or lowered expenses for some time, often a time that extends beyond their employment. The notion that there's anything close to "fair" compensation for labor is contradicted by the average net operational revenues per emplyee in the S&P 500 ... which runs about three times the employee compensation. Stated another way, net revenues (operational "profits" or EBITA) of the average S&P 500 company's employees don't actually get compensated.

The "Obama Recovery" is happening no matter what all the people in here say who don't know anything about business/finance/economy.

I'll believe in the "Obama Recovery" when unemployment stops going up and wages begin to increase. So far, it's been exactly the opposite. Even the white house predicts U3 unemployment, now at almost 10%, to go up to over 11% by the end of 2010. (The more accurate, thus largely ignored, U-6 is already pushing 17%.)

Merely having "hope" is not a valid substitute for people who "don't know anything about business/finance/economy."

Especially when this recession seemed to catch most companies by surprise. They've got to get their finances and shit in order, then come up with a growth strategy, then implement it. Most companies have completed step one, are working on step two which is going to take awhile, and then step 3 will happen when they feel comfortable growing again and have built their reserves back up.

So you think once Obama flipped the switch, the next day every company is going to give everyone a huge raise and hire 10% more work force? Give it time. Recovery is a long slow road but it's happening.

And for everyone in the market right now, there's no place to go but UP. We're still going to see many multiple increases with stock prices in great companies during this and now's the time to jump on board.

When the market gets ahead of the fundamentals it eventually crashes. When the crash exceeds fundamentals in terms of pessimism it rises.

The market drop last year and the beginning of the year was only "fairly valued" if economic output was going to decline 10%-15% over the next 4 to 5 years (i.e. worst case scenario). That scenario is looking less and less likely thus prices are undervalued based on the "likely" outcomes and they rise.

And Jim Cramer told me that I should exit the stock market, and get into cash back in March 2009!