Weekly chart points to bounce <img src=http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=1810871>
Why does everyone think inflation is bad for stocks? Inflation is only bad for stocks if the Fed actually cared about controlling it by raising rates. This Fed could give a rat's ass about inflation and lie like pinocchio in order to print print print. That is bullish for stocks. Stocks are going higher until the dollar strengthens. The weaker the dollar, the stronger the stock market. Rising commodities and a weak dollar are the reason the market hasn't fallen apart.
Weak USD is great for export, that's why European businesses hate USD right now. I can only see weak USD benefiting US stock market. That's my amateur opinion, I am no economist.
In "The New Market Wizards", Schwager interviews a guy that talks about 1990/91. The particular trader - whose name eludes me - said how every day headlines got more gloomy and predicted the end of the world, but stock prices started churning sideways and refused to go down much more. He became bullish and went long as he was convinced stocks priced in the worst case scenario rather than the most likely scenario. The takeaway: Bullishness/Gloominess of newspaper headlines and future market performance are probably uncorrelated.
Or stocks were so bullish they resisted the bad news. Meaning that bad news is correllated but stronger forces can override them. To me, this would make more logical sense. If something is strong durign good news, that doesn't tell us anything. if something keeps strong during bad news, then it's more likely than not that it will be excessively strong durign good news.
And the hits just keep on coming. 02/28/2008 * U.S. Economy Grew 0.6% in Fourth Quarter, Less Than Economists Estimated * Stocks in U.S. Tumble After GDP Trails Economists' Forecasts; Sprint Falls * Sprint Posts $29.5 Billion Loss, Eliminates Dividend, Borrows $2.5 Billion * MF Global Says `Unauthorized' Wheat Futures Trades May Cost $141.5 Million * Dollar Falls to Record Low Against Euro for Third Day on Weakening Economy * Goldman Names Four Executives to Run Sales and Trading, Top Revenue Unit * Freddie Mac Has Record $2.45 Billion Loss on Housing, Credit-Market Slump * Peloton Sells Assets After Mortgage-Related Securities Losses, People Say * Treasuries Gain as Economy Expands Less Than Forecast, Jobless Claims Rise * Rhodia Falls Most in Four Years as Chemical Maker Scraps Margin Forecast * Bernanke's Drive to Avert Recession Fuels Concern Inflation Will Speed Up * Lampert Invokes Eli Manning, Tells Shareholders of Sears to Keep the Faith * Dell Recovery Plan Falters as Wal-Mart, Staples Shoppers Let PCs Languish * Vulture Fund Makes Deal With Delinquent Homeowners Fleeing Subprime Devil * Liechtenstein Probe Reflects Wider Global Information-Sharing on Tax Fraud * Pfizer Moves Drug Tests to South Korea From Japan Because of Rising Costs * New York Faces Double Whammy as Swaps Compound Failed Auctions