That's true. . . $80 some billion was given wholesale to Fiat to take Chrysler from its owners. . . and the theft of GM from its stockholders and creditors. However, the government essentially divorced food and rents from the inflation indexes so they did not have to report those price increases. . .
About the only stock that seemed to ignore the fluctuations of the market was AAPL (Apple) as it just kept climbing during that period (only one real drop of any consequence not associated with a market wide reduction from which it recovered rapidly) and it maintained a P/E around 9-15 which was not one of those with a ridiculous extreme like Amazon or Google were experiencing. . . and even its forward looking P/E was reasonable. . . and during this time it grew to be the most valuable company in the world by Market Cap. During that time, Apple had three quarters that broke all time records for revenues and profits for ALL corporations in history.
A lot of analysts were claiming that Apple was overvalued, but it has proved them wrong and is headed toward being the first one trillion dollar company (at least the first that is not a public/government partnership). The stock is within striking distance right now of reaching that. . . $18 away. . . and it's done that much rise in a month in the past.
I like Ford because they thumbed their nose at Obama (I drive a Lincoln).
Me too - they thumbed their nose at the nonsense, and they were cheap - 3 bucks a share.