Durable goods and existing home sales show this whole run was a gov't sponsored farce. The truth is outside gov't giveaways its game over and has been for a year. I expect new lows in stocks in 2010 as reality reasserts itself
There really isnt that much of a correlation as one would think between stockmarket performance and the state the economy is in. It's all perception and speculation.
The stock market is about HOPE. It's always been disconnected with reality. But there is the well known "Wealth Effect" of a rising stock market. If the market can be propped up with truth or lies, people will feel more confident to buy that house, car, or whatever, thus creating demand. It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy. The problem is, this time nobody has any credit left.
Stock market is one big casino. Once you accept that and don't have the expectation that it will react exactly to how you expect it to then you can start to trade it properly.