As the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced further above 10,000 yesterday, gold slipped back below $1,200 an ounce. We are not exactly sure what we think about the stock market's resurgence – or about gold's retreat – but we are pretty sure what we do NOT think.
We do not think stocks have vaulted into a new bullish trend; nor do we think gold has slumped into a new bearish trend. Rather, the recent moves feel like short-term, counter-trend noise. This noise might last a few weeks, but we would not mistake it for music.
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One Business that Doesn’t Need a Bailout
Sign of the Times, Part 1: Federal bailout spending now exceeds the inflation-adjusted cost of World War II, according to our friends at the Independent Institute.
Senior Fellow William Shugart says World War II cost $3.6 trillion, but the bailouts now top $4 trillion. That's actual money out of the taxpayer's pocket, as opposed to the $12.8 trillion “lent, spent or guaranteed� figure you run across from time to time, a chunk of which might eventually be repaid.
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