Fact: Consumer spending is fully 2/3 of the entire economy.
Fact: Consumer savings rate WAS effectively ZERO as the government measured it, before this downturn.
Fact: Consumer saving is currently 5% a truly HUGE INCREASE.
Fact: As long as consumers continue to aggressively save instead of spend we will stay mired in this downturn
Fact: There is no logical reason for the markets to be rising now and one can only assume this is a bear trap and a lot of suckers are gonna get snagged.
There will be little left of producing industry in the USA after Obama gets done. We have fallen to only 15% production based, from our former 90% production based economy. We are now 85 to 90% service based. (Which is unsustainable in rough economies.)
Foreign manufacturers will benefit most, as will former US companies who relocate in other countries. Oil Companies are moving to places like Dubai and Singapore in large numbers.
Oil will hit $85 to $100 per barrel before the year is out. Gold will go over $1,000 rapidly, as the effects of monetizing our currency and printing greenbacks kicks in later this year. It will be commodities and foreign markets that will keep the markets in business and the numbers we see now, are somewhat the result of that currently happening.