A little "live blogging" while watching the NFL Red Zone channel. No commercials on the Red Zone, either. Noice! - The market had a nice 3% or so rally last week. We are in the monthly strength period as 401(k) money gets dollar-cost averaged into the market, providing some buy pressure. I like the idea of a year-end rally, especially into the headwinds of the wall of worry negativism we read about and listen to on a daily basis. Yes, the economy is growing slowly. But it's not a recession. Energy and real estate are a drag on growth, but we do have growth.
- I remain 100% long here.
- If you're a fan of NBC's Journeyman, good news! NBC will be airing the remaining episodes. I think this is one of the better shows on TV, and hope NBC keeps going with it. You can go to NBC.com and send them an email. I did.
- And yes, that is another picture of Journeyman co-star Moon Bloodgood from her Maxim shoot. Ahem.
- Buy signal still on at Jason's.
- The Lies that (Some) Financial Advisors Tell.
- More on Charles Rangel's "guaranteed" Middle Class Tax Hike.
- Is Alan Abelson ever happy about anything? Excerpts from this week's Barron's:
Better Sold Than Bought
HALLELUJAH. LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!
That may not aptly describe the mood of the country at large -- which is of the overwhelming opinion that the economy is rattling along on the wrong track and in the wrong direction -- but after a smashing stock-market rally last week, the glad cry began to enjoy some muted resonance in Wall Street, where hope and optimism are never in short supply.
(blah blah blah blah)
For none of the horrors that sent the market reeling -- the demolition of housing, the collapse of credit, the increasing pain inflicted on the mass of consumers caught in the vise between all-but-stagnant income and the remorseless rise in the cost of essentials -- show much inclination to vanish. Just the opposite: Especially in credit and housing, the big chill grows ever meaner, and we expect this week's employment numbers to furnish another icy blast.
- We certainly are being told day in and day out about how horrible things are. But look at the latest BLS numbers on inflation, unemployment and wages. So Abelson says to sell the rally, eh? Think he'll be right? Is he ever right?