Working Thoughts

The stock market rallied yesterday on a combination of good indicators. One of which is the increase in Consumer Confidence. After a 6 month decline it is up to 51.9 from 51.0 last month. What is interesting is that this is still as low as it was in 1992. A coworker of mine Chuck Lomax mentioned to me on Monday that he witnessed an increase in people at the beach this past weekend. It is worth noting and speculating that perhaps the consumer is ready, ready to go to the beach, ready to eat steak, ready to buy a car. But more importantly, maybe it is the recognition of hitting bottom and the optimism of only being able to go up that is spurring this new excitement. I also think the patriotism of the Olympics is creeping into many people and we are reminded of makes America so different. Between now and the middle of 2009 there is a lot of opportunity for small businesses and investors to get in cheap, weather the slow, and be primed for a take off.