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

Oh, how perfect would it be? The stock market sells down near the 2008 lows just prior to the Presidential Inauguration, and then, the skies open up, hopes emerge, and the stock market mounts a huge rally.

The wooing of the American people is well under way. Consumers are seeing ads for Obama coins, plates, t-shirts, posters, and just about anything you can imagine. The media loves this guy, and his success is almost assured.

I hate to bring this up again, but I have to reiterate a quote from the former comedian George Carlin;

"It's all B.S. folks, and it's bad for ya".

I have very little doubt that the stock market and economy will drastically improve over the next two years.

Much has been made of the January Barometer (so goes January, so goes the year). We are still a few weeks away from months end. Lucien Hooper, a Forbes columnist and Wall Street analyst in the 1970's had a better indicator for the markets.

Hooper found the December Barometer to be more reliable than the one in January. Hooper found that if the Dow’s December closing was violated, then look out below. In 2008, the Dow’s December low was 8149. On December 31st, the Dow closed at 8776. As of 10:13 cst the Dow sits at 8152.

Let's see how January goes.

Today, the markets opened lower on concerns of more losses in the banking sector, and lower consumer spending. The good news however is mortgage applications were up 17%. This means lower mortgage rates for consumers, more disposable income, and more fees for lenders. No word yet if those new mortgage applications had anything to do with working off the bargain real estate inventories.

Yesterday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the government is considering buying troubled assets from banks, and the European Central Bank and the Bank of England are in the process of helping their banking system as well.

Crude oil prices look as if they are putting in an important bottom.

Until we get closer to the day of "atonement" (Presidential Inauguration), continue to expect a very testy market.