The value of stocks is purely speculative and relatively meaningless unless (a) you own some and (b) you sell them.  I held on to my stocks when the market crashed (and I held my breath) and now my stocks have risen again in value.  Since I didn’t sell anything, I was "poorer" but I didn’t lose money.  Now, I am "richer" again but find it difficult to rejoice since there is so much misery all over the country as a result of foreclosures and unemployment. 

Much of the prosperity in the Bush years was a mirage and those who are losing jobs and homes are paying the price for us all - while those with investments in stocks AND jobs are, once again, laughing all the way to the bank, as the bandwagon gears up for another boom and bust cycle.

That’s good news…and we have a long way to go before this mess is fixed.

Amy, PennDragon Studios

PennDragonStudios.com

Dow 30? BFD. When the S&P 500 is back above 1400 I’ll be sippin’ champaign.

That is WONDERFUL news, but as the poll option indicated, I’m still holding my breath. However I think it is really good news for the White House but even better for the country.

Very exciting and very good news, especially for people like me trying to sell a house in this icky market.  But I know it’s kind of like when my weight goes below 140 — it could yo-yo back up to 165 with the blink of an eye. 

I checked other as I think the stock market is just one of many indicators of a healthy economy. It’s great that some of the folks i know who were retired and living off their investments (the ones who did NOT pull their money out) are able to breathe again. That’s nice. But on the whole… it’s just an indicator that things aren’t as bleak as some thought. But they aren’t as great as some predicted either.

I’m not holding my breath. 10% unemployment and obama promised it wouldn’t go above 8 if the stimulus package was approved…Where’s the jobs? 25,000 jobs were created in our federal government in DC. Hmmmmmmm?

I recently read a book by Bernard Baruch published in 1957 when we were in the worst of the recession. So far everything in that old book pertains to us today and that book might as well have been predicting what was going to happen. Recessions come and go in cycles and the economy always comes back. Banks might still be holding onto to old debt before we know if this recession is over. Most stock (401(k) plans) will get back to almost what they were worth. This will all happen before jobs come back. Companies want to feel secure before they commit to hiring people again.

i have no job and am too sick to work right now. i’m trying for social security disability. i’m sure that it affects me somehow. but i don’t see it. i worked for the past 25yrs and never was able to rise above, or save any money. i worked 2 jobs and even did babysitting on the side when i had the time (don’t ask me where i found it when i was working two jobs) for extra gas money. so the dow jones really doesn’t seem to make a hoot for me. i’m now on public housing aka HUD, food stamps and county medical. us at the bottom, who have strived for more, but never see it don’t really trip off of losing what we never had to begin with. i know i will survive through it all. but it won’t be easy. i really worry about those that put all their money into stocks and such. i would be so made if i had worked all those years and found out i had NOTHING. at least this way, i don’t have so far to fall. so i’m not as depressed by it. i have a roof over my head and food in my tummy. so i’m thankful for ANYTHING i have and NEVER take anything for granted!!!

When the DJIA first hit 10,000 it made me nervous. I thought that it was rising too fast, that there must be some catch, some ticking time bomb. As we found out the hard way, the time bomb turned out to be exotic financial instruments.

This time I have been paying a bit more attention, and I still see questions.

• How much of this is due to binging and purging in the supply chain, as businesses try to manage merchandise-on-hand in an uncertain economy?
• How much of it is from short-term cost savings due to job destruction?
• How much of it is due to stock price manipulation for bigger bonuses?

From the “doomed to repeat” department:
Back to Business - Wall Street Pursues Profit in Bundles of Life Insurance

Feds’ insider trading wiretap snares IBM heir apparent

From the “with friends like these” department:

Outsourcing is clearly not only a good business, but good for business, as Big Blue has been shifting big chunks of its support and supply chain operations overseas for the past several years.

“We are optimistic about 2009 as we again raise our full-year expectations and we remain well ahead of pace for our 2010 roadmap of $10 to $11 per share.”

Thank you very much, ladies and gentleman, my work here is done for the quarter. I’ll take my stock options now.

IBM wrings more profits out of declining Q3
Investing in America, one jobs export at a time.

What does this milestone mean to me?

• Wall Street has moved into recovery without having diagnosed the disease. Note to self: without fundamental changes to stock market behaviors, the stock market is sure to crash again before I retire.
• Investment accounts, including my own retirement account, are in partial but significant recovery. While this bodes well for the future, it has little immediate effect.
• Those who were generously rewarded for failure are now being generously rewarded for working during the partial recovery. I am still waiting to see some jail time passed out.
• Wall Street analysts continue to chain companies to the next quarterly report, undermining true innovation and forward thinking.
• It illustrates a complete disconnect between the stock market and the mainstreet economy.

Outstanding problems:

• Rampant foreclosures
• Big Business attacks on small businesses.
• The Downsizing of America
• The viability of the American economy under current business practices.

It’s still a depression at our house here in Michigan, and it’s not going to get better for a long time. My husband works 3 days a week in his auto job and I’ve been unemployed for 2 years. The only good thing that has come out of all this, is you find out what is really important to you and that’s family!