"You know what the news is-- in a minute, you're going to hear the rest of the story"- Paul Harvey

Fears over the banking system collapsing are subsiding. The TARP program by the Fed and the Treasury are working. Now that those fears have abated, consumers with jobs are beginning to spend again.

Last weekend we went to a large outlet mall and the parking lot was jammed, and people were buying.

As expected, spending came to a screeching halt in October. The reasons are obvious. Increased spending will continue to be strain for consumers who have been laid off, and for those who have used credit lines as ATM's, but for the 90++ percent with jobs, spending will pick back up.

The stock market will look beyond the current turmoil months before the economy stabilizes. This is a faith in the future that better times lie ahead. The currently glum market environment creates short term investors very shortsighted views.

Those of us who have been around a while realize that recessions are followed by recoveries, and bear markets eventually become bull markets.

Here is an interesting piece of news, the Chinese government announced they would spend $586 billion over the next two years in order to stimulate the economy. This new stimulus package amounts to about 15% of the GDP in China, and the money will be used on infrastructure spending, tax rebates, and aid for the rural economy. I am expecting an upturn in energy and commodity prices in the new year.