The stock market, because what else can I do?

First let me say -- We're a nation of ninnies.

Most of what I hear of politics these days seems like inane nattering.  We have real problems we're not even addressing, and we're wasting out time on stupid stuff.

We've obviously gone off the rails.  It ain't the liberals -- it's the conservatives who have brought this about. 

They're delusional.


Anyway, I wanted to talk about the stock market.  So ... the last two booms, I wasn't there.  No money at all.  I put what little I had in an IRA in the stock market at its lowest month of the crash -- so I'll always sort of pat myself on the back about that.  But it was probably just coincidence.

Anyway,  I've been trying to keep up with economic news reports for a long time now, and I've decided that I can always find very bearish reports, and sometimes find some bullish reports, and everything between.

So, taking that all into account -- by tossing them in the rubbish bin -- I'm trying to look at the bigger picture.

What I remember about the last two bubbles was being completely aware at the time that they were bubbles.  Long before they burst.  I couldn't understand, for instance, how a company selling widgets on NASDAQ could be worth five times more by making the same widgets.

Every time I've ever had the reaction of:  That makes no sense!  ----  It has turned out to make no sense.

I'm on record on this blog for fearing a housing bubble -- it's the reason I started this blog in late 2006 in the first place, after participating in discussions on other local blogs for months before that, and being concerned for several years before that.

As I always say, I've seen bubbles -- pogs, beanie babies, sports cards, Pokemon.  They have certain indicators.

I see nothing like those two situations in the current market.  I see tons of dangers and negative signs, but they are the usual bearish things that one can always find.

So while there are plenty of negative things to look for, overall I don't see the massive destructive bubble that I saw the last two times.

We've kept our money in the stock market this whole time, and it seems to have worked pretty well.  Even a massive correction would only take us back where we started. 

Besides, what else am I going to do?