Unemployment is still hovering around 10% and some companies have avoided layoffs by cutting their 401k match...  The next wave of layoffs is coming soon  THYCAN.  Take Home Your Computer At Night.

There's a gigantic confidence problem in the corporate world.  Everyone is worried about losing their job... therefore not spending money on unecessary items.  You don't have to be a genius to figure out that this has a trickle down effect and ultimately results in more jobs being cut and companies not hitting their number again in the 4th quarter.

All bets are off when it comes to the Fed.  They keep printing more and more money out of thin air... there may be a temporary drop in prices but then inflation will hit hard once everyone realizes how many US dollars are in circulation. 

Consumers are still much too cautious and will remain that way until housing prices stabilize and the banks come clean.  No matter how you slice it, we're trying to cure the current economic problems with a band-aid and it really deserves major surgery.  If this phony plan works it's only going to postpone problems that will arise again in 10 years... then we can relive this all over again.  Maybe we rally again until 2016, until all of the baby boomers are forced to start withdrawing from their 401ks... TCAR/D. Then Comes Another Recession/Depression.

I'm sure the government will come up with a fancy acronym to solve that problem as well... maybe the CHAOS... China Has All Our Savings.  
 
 
Fewer people applied for unemployment aid last week, the third drop in four weeks...
The Labor Department shook their magic 8 ball and came up with some numbers - the initial claims for jobless aid dropped by 24,000 to a seasonally adjusted 435,000. Wall Street economists expected a smaller decrease, but what do they know?  Forecasting on Wall Street is just liquor and guessing.
Applications for unemployment benefits do actually provide a real-time snapshot of the job market. They are a measure of the pace of layoffs and signal whether companies are adding jobs.
Way to go Obama. He's keeping his promise of creating jobs... he got jobs for 63 Republicans just last week.
 
 
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Ireland is in big financial trouble.  Investors are betting that the country soon could join Greece in seeking a bailout from the European Union and drove the interest rate on the country's 10-year borrowing to a new high.  Ireland and Greece are now in the same boat... and that's not a good boat to be in.