So Close....

I'm done with all the major work for one class and very nearly done in the second. All that I have left is to fluff up a paper from eight to ten pages. I hate doing that, but the subject really doesn't warrant that long of a paper. But a few long quotes from several of my sources and "Tada!!" it's a ten-pager. I'm going to work on that as soon as I'm done here. I don't want to have any real work to do after I go to bed tonight.

I was looking at some market stuff during one of my brain breaks today. For those concerned about the big picture, here are some numbers that give an idea of just what that big picture looks like:

- $11 Trillion in lost market cap since January 2008. And still dropping. And that's just the US.
- Half of the Wilshire 5000 stocks are below $5/share.
- One third of the Wilshire 5000 stocks are below $3/share
- Over half the stocks on the S&P 500 no longer meet the criteria for being in the S&P 500.
- The US GDP declined over 6% in Q4 2008. That was one of the best numbers in the world.
- South Korea's GDP fell over 20% in Q4 2008. We won't be exporting our way out of this.
- Favorite line of the week: "The dollar is the best looking horse at the glue factory."

The good news is that the markets turned up just before close Friday, which usually means an up Monday, barring any disasters over the weekend. Lets hope things at least level off. The last forty-five days have been brutal even for us pessimists. And we have almost no money in the market right now. I can't imagine what it has been like for retirees or those close to retiring while they watch half or more their portfolio value just evaporate. (Why people at that point in life are heavily in equities is a whole 'nother blog post.)

Well, enough of this spreading happiness and cheer crap; I've got a paper to fluff.