Financial Freedumb and Brownie

Foreclosures are climbing.  Homes sales are slumping.  Consumer confidence crumbles. Media is printing nothing but bleak news…then again, how often is news happy news?

Lo and behold: Dow hits record high!

Irrational exuberance part two?

I don’t know for sure, but if the general rule of thumb is buy low, sell high.  I really don’t understand the money coming into the stock market at the moment. So who’s investing?

“Big institutions — not mom and pop investors — have driven the rally. Money has flowed out of U.S. stock mutual funds five consecutive weeks, says Jeffrey Kleintop, chief market strategist at LPL Financial Services. “Dow 13,000 may trigger individuals to finally start buying stocks,” he says. reference

Ya, sounds, uhh…interesting. Individuals will finally start buying? Woohoo! Sounds like fun. *Pulls out the checkbook*

We’re seeing that the market continues to be driven by the earnings, which have been good,” Skrainka added. He said that investors should be able to absorb any expected slowdown in earnings growth in 2007, as it follows 3-1/2 years of double-digit percentage growth. reference

Interesting…Then I read this:

“Corporate America’s ability to top low-ball first-quarter profit estimates issued by analysts worried about a slowing economy and real estate bust.” reference

Draw what conclusion you may…but beating a low-ball estimate doesn’t indicate strength to me. Sure, we did better than expected, but if the housing fallout is just starting, then I really don’t feel so confident.

I don’t know if the stock market will continue it’s climb…
I don’t know if the housing market will fall further…faster…
But I do know this, with an income of $100,000 and a decent down payment, most people still can’t afford a decent house in Hawaii…*Puts the checkbook back* I’m still not ready to invest in this economy, and I’m definitely not giddy or exuberant.