Erm... what’s wrong with the stock market ?
DOW Jones is up 50% in last 5 years (that’s including the recent decline from 14000 to 12500).
Energy costs are NOT out of control at all. They’re right for the current market conditions. If the economy slows down they will fall. Since when is a recession a bad thing ? Recessions make economies more efficient.
There are two views regarding economy in general that people often confuse. The larger, strategic view, and the smaller, tactical, current quarter/year view. Usually everyone talks about the small tactical view because it directly affects their lives, and that in turn is perception they get from the media and/or their own personal financial state. Then, those views are projected onto the strategic level without realisation, and then we arrive at the ‘our economy is sinking’ and ‘we’re all doomed’ etc.
Our economy is ROCK SOLID and heavily diversified, and is the pillar of the world economic system. It goes through business cycles which go up and down. The down cycles make it more efficient (as wasteful/inefficient activities/companies are eliminated) and enables the next cycle of expansion.
High energy costs impose high efficiency standards on companies. Some will be able to do it, some won’t. Those that can’t will be replaced by those who can, and then the remaining ones (or the new ones that came in to replace the older, inefficient ones) will proceed to do very well (even better) in the future.