Confused

The DOW dropped 85 and the S&P dropped 10. I was surprised by this. One might have thought the news that the Fed was printing up another cool trillion to grease the economic wheel would have set the place on fire.

Turns out the stinker in the craw was unemployment. What a stinker it is. The layoffs continue and the effects of the recession continue to trickle down, tent cities are rising. This is the real trickle down.

The word is we were having a classic bear market rally.

The Labor Department said on Thursday that 5.47 million people stayed on the benefit rolls in the week ended March 7, up from 5.29 million the previous week and the highest on record. source

Turning 180 degrees in the opposite direction, this article is big on investing and points out that the markets may have changed for the better. Exactly who do we listen to at this point. The conflicting information abounds and then to top it off corporations are burning up taxpayer bailout money like it was cotton candy. Go ahead tax bonuses, big deal.

Reuters: Cautious investors suddenly challenged by hope

...a strong message that monetary policy officials are prepared to do what it takes to reverse economic decline.

It is certainly true that some of the features of the old bull market have suddenly resurfaced -- plentiful liquidity, a declining dollar and a rising oil price, to name three.