Article and commentary on why April's retail sales has some interesting data.

Wal-Mart & Costco show good earnings, translates into a recession.

It was another overall lower volume session as the NYSE, for the 32nd day in-a-row, came in with volume below the 50 day volume average once again. However, underneath the bullish mini-reversal that sent the Nasdaq from a .8% loss to a .8% gain, there was a TON of bullish action in stocks in a wide range of industries.

The market did not do much of anything today as we all bide time ahead of the release of Q1 GDP and the FOMC interest rate decision. About the only market moving news today was the talk of V and MA earnings. Both of those stocks produced excellent action today in their respective security, with MA now giving me a 450% return in a little under two years.

In today’s economy, investors need all the help they can get. Fortunately, there are many investment bloggers out there willing to lend a hand. Take a look at 50 of the best of these bloggers, from stocks to real estate.

You don't want to miss these super hot links for the weekend. You don't!
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Big leveraged buyouts won't return for at least a year because the complex structured products and investors that supported such deals have disappeared, said Thomas H. Lee, president of private-equity firm Lee Equity Partners LLC, at a conference on Tuesday.

A separate report from the Commerce Department showed spending on building projects fell less than forecast in February. The 0.3 percent decrease followed a revised 1 percent drop in January that was smaller than previously estimated.

After the last post comparing the history of Market Meltdowns (particularly the 1980s Savings and Loan Crisis), I decided to talk a little bit about how our current market correction differs from back then.

Free markets, unfortunately, are prone to excess. In the end, we’re all speculators at heart. Most of us can remember pretty clearly what our most recent recession - mostly caused by the internet bubble bursting and exacerbated by 9/11.

Home prices in many cities continued to plunge by record levels in January as sellers cut their asking bids and rising foreclosures took their toll.

This was a great article and a great read, so I am not going to mess with the writing. Here is a brief segment of the article.

"We’re already roughly back to 2006. We could easily see this get back to 2002 levels before the dust settles. The possibility of the Dow at 8,000 is certainly not out of the question." — Adam Lass

"Our forecast of a year ago that the U.S. economy would enter a major recession in the fourth quarter appears valid," says Gary Shilling, adding, "We’re convinced that stocks are in a bear market that commenced last October."

In simple terms, a recession happens when the aggregate value of all goods and services produced by a country decreases for two or more successive quarters. So, the question is, when a country's economy is shrinking, what stocks make good investments?

With all of the talk of the new Bear market, shouldn't keep you from making money on the long side. With every Bull market, there are bearish moves and with every Bear market, there are Bullish moves. Trading the counter trend can be very profitable.