[quote=FormerSanDiegan]
Stocks are pieces of ownership in a company. Many of these companies are making money, despite a troubled housing market and unemployment.[/quote]

I still don’t get it. If only a handful of companies were performing well, this might make sense to me. In addition to Ford’s record profits, Google had a smashing 3rd quarter that led to a 10% jump. The success of individual companies does not surprise me. But, the Dow is up 3% in Oct. and 6% over the last 3 months. NASDAQ? 5% and 10% respectively. How can these ‘broad’ index measurements perform so well in light of little good news about the current performance and future of the economy?

I understand housing and employment are only 2 components of the economy. While performance in the housing can be considered isolated from other economic factors, employment (which is not good by any measure) affects everything.

Some companies have performed well over the past 9-12 months, and deserve to have increased shares. However, the 6% and 10% rise in DOW and NASDAQ indices seems out of line with the general economy. I was a bear at the beginning of the month and I still am, today. I’m still looking for an explanation of the strength of the indices.