Economic indicators suggest an Obama recovery; yet GOP & FOX-type media give no credit

By the latest economic indicators, the economy is moving in the direction of recovery.

ABC News reported today that several indicators are pointing to an economic recovery. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to surpass 9,000 last week (to 9,069.29). This was the first time that it exceeded that level. And all the large stock indexes rose by more than two percent, TIm Paradis and Sara Lepro in "The Minneapolis Star-Tribune" reported Thursday. The NASDAQ had its most impressive rally since 1992: a 12th straight advance, i.e., the composite index rising by 47.22, or 2.5 percent.

Home sales (of previously lived-in homes) were at 4.89 milion in June, compared with the anticipated 4.84 milion.

INVESTMENT MANAGER BILL MILLER BULLISH
Legg Mason trust fund manager Bill Miller, who is renowned for "beating the S&P 500" says that the worst is over.
Jeff Kearns and Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam report in "The Washington Post" this weekend that Miller said of the stock market that "the worst has passed."

"Bull markets typically begin when the following four conditions are present: the economy is bottoming, profits are bottoming, the Fed is stimulating and valuations are low. That's where we are now."

Miller, famed for beating the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index for a record 15 years through 2005, trailed the U.S. benchmark for the past three, partly because of investments in home builders, banks and mortgage companies. Those bets caused a record 55 percent loss in 2008. Legg Mason Value Trust has returned 19.8 percent this year, ahead of the index by 12.6 percentage points when dividends are included.

Banks and other financial institutions have rallied the most among 10 industries since the S&P 500 tumbled to a 12-year low March 9, surging 96 percent. Technology shares had the second-best gain, climbing 55 percent.

SEVERAL PROBLEMS REMAIN
There are several problems, enduring, however. Consumer confidence remains low.

Well, no wonder. Psychology is at play for lots of this. Consumers don't want to spend if they have reason to fear that their jobs are not secure.

Credit cards as a boon to economic vitality
Let's face it: credit cards are the crack of consumer spending. They provide(d) an illusory high of easy, immediate satisfying of buying impulses. And more seriously, they provided an important trigger that stimulated spending. It is no wonder that with the two factors of tighter credit and fears of job stability or security there is a decrease in consumer confidence. This made it particularly easy to splurge frequently or on big ticket items like plasma televisions.

Unemployment still troubling
Unemployment presently stands at 9.5 percent, the highest level since the first administration of President Ronald Reagan in the early 1980s.

RIGHT-WING, GOP, OTHER MEDIA --ESPECIALLY FOX-- NOT GIVING CREDIT WHERE DUE
This recovery, or at least positive turn-around on a number of fronts, is here after six months of the Barack Obama administration. The Republicans, the right in general, and the media need to be honest and give the administration credit where it is due.

These delusional pontificators were booming about how Obama was a socialist, a Marxist, a Stalinist. Just listen to Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh or Monica Crowley. Yet, where are they now, with the multiple positive signs suggesting a turn towards a recovery. They have now shifted their demagogic rhetorical flourish to Obama on health care policy, bandying about these -ism labels on Obama's public option.
Is it any wonder that one of the latest "Washington Post" polls has the public trusting President Obama over the Republicans on health care by a 54 to 34 margin.

Look in the news search engines and listen to the Republicans on the Sunday morning talk shows you cannot find Republicans acknowledging the loud hints of a recovery, let alone credit Obama with the recovery.

Just two weeks ago Obama was asking for more time for the stimulus to kick in. It seems as though this is happening.

**
As to whether this is a jobless recovery, that remains an open question. I believe that much of this question lies in the de-industrializing spiral that economic policy-makers have placed us in.

For a stock market holiday

Admonishing "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" is not working in this present crisis.

Fear and anxiety breeds fear and anxiety. The US stock markets, as well as those globally have been in an untenable freefall, for the past two weeks.
We should recall "The New York Times" nearly 79 years ago, (October 26, 1929)

“Cautioning against hysterical selling, brokerage houses in their market letters this morning will strike a note of optimism, advising the purchase of seasoned stocks at the present low levels. The public is strongly urged not to liquidate stocks in the present market.”

For the next few weeks, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission should close the stock markets, stop the trading,
as the Russian stock markets did earlier this week.
From the AP, October 8:

MOSCOW -
Trading on both Russian stock markets was halted - on one until Friday and on the other until further notice - on Wednesday after shares plunged within an hour of opening on fears the credit crisis will take a heavy toll on growth.

MICEX, where most trading takes place, was shut until Friday after it dropped more than 14 percent to 637.9 points in the first half-hour of trading. The benchmark RTS index - which has lost more than 69 percent since its May peak - has been shut down until further notice. It fell 11.3 percent in the first half-hour, dropping to 761.6 points.

Russia's oil-fueled economy has seen its stocks hurtle lower on the back of falling oil prices and concerns about the depth of the financial and economic woes in Europe and the U.S., contributing to the worst-ever day of trading for Russian shares on Monday.

The government is now battling with its most serious financial crisis since the 1998 collapse, and has announced a series of measures to pump liquidity into the banking system and restore confidence in the markets. It has announced more than $200 billion in emergency measures since the crisis escalated in September.

"The holiday will do everybody some good," said Eric Kraus, an adviser to Otkrytiye brokerage. "It looks like the crash in the West is happening this week. Until that is behind us, we cannot expect any degree of rationality in the Russian financial markets."

Russian stock markets closed with minor losses on Tuesday in a tepid response to President Dmitry Medvedev's announcement of new measures to improve liquidity in the banking system.