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Consumer Confidence Tanks, Stocks Rise: What's Going On?

Posted Nov 13, 2009 02:04pm EST by Peter Gorenstein in Investing

Consumer confidence is falling yet the stock market keeps rising.

The DOW is enjoying a triple digit rally Friday after strong earnings report from Walt Disney as well as retailers Abercrombie & Fitch and J.C. Penney. That helping offset a worse than expected reading from the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index.

Dan Alpert managing director at Westwood Capital says "very, very cheap money and a dollar that's extremely challenged" are creating two very strong tailwinds for the bulls or, as he refers to them, "inflationistas."

On the flip side, the Alpert says, the bears believe this rally is nothing more than a momentum trade. The "fundamentalists" as he calls them say stocks are overpriced and will soon come back to earth when everyone realizes the economy is still the pits.

This latter argument may be compelling and well thought but the numbers on the Big Board don’t lie.  Stocks continue to climb, for now.

The question is can the bears stay solvent longer than the market remains, in their view, irrational?

165 Comments

- Friday November 13, 2009 02:15PM EST

Or simply put the Market and Economy are being manipulated, and anyone smart knows the ending to this story!

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Friday November 13, 2009 02:19PM EST

Isn't P/E ratio close to 100!? And the future doesn't show any special hope so forget discounting future earnings. Lucky for those with the chance to sell.....

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Friday November 13, 2009 02:19PM EST

WALL STREET NEEDS MORE ENFORCED TRANSPARENCY

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Friday November 13, 2009 02:19PM EST

WALL STREET NEEDS MORE ENFORCED TRANSPARENCY

- Friday November 13, 2009 02:20PM EST

The economy is in recovery. All things point to it. It is just the junk media keeps playing the doom and groom. 90% people are working. Europe has more than 10% unemployment rate for years. Stop "he says and she says...."

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Friday November 13, 2009 02:20PM EST

WALL STREET NEEDS MORE ENFORCED TRANSPARENCY

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Friday November 13, 2009 02:26PM EST

WALL STREET NEEDS MORE ENFORCED TRANSPARENCY

- Friday November 13, 2009 02:26PM EST

Has anyone tried this yet? www.dnafxtrading.com

- Friday November 13, 2009 02:28PM EST

Thanks Bully, but I don't take advice from ignorant people who can't compose a sentence without resorting to profanities.

- Friday November 13, 2009 02:28PM EST

Maybe all you fools should learn one thing- One can try to be right, or, you can make money! That's why I trade. Long term investing is for suckers.

- Friday November 13, 2009 02:29PM EST

"Bully the Bear", could not have said it more clearer! We need more people calling it as it is!

- Friday November 13, 2009 02:30PM EST

he not say when dow go pop?

- Friday November 13, 2009 02:31PM EST

Consumer confidence? that's a virtual number that doesn't mean much.

- Friday November 13, 2009 02:32PM EST

The FEDS are manipulating the Market / That's what's going on. How Long Can They Do it??? That is the question // When They Stop we will have the Big EL CRASHO

- Friday November 13, 2009 02:35PM EST

This is one crazy market. I keep watching the dollar slide and wonder what it does to stock. Wonder if foreign investment increases due to the cheaper cost to them.

- Friday November 13, 2009 02:39PM EST

What ever happens the market keeps going up on low volume. Hmmm

- Friday November 13, 2009 02:40PM EST

the one quote in this interview that should ring everyone's warning bell is: the only comparable conditions that have existed in our past is The Great Depression.

- Friday November 13, 2009 02:40PM EST

As sure as the year 2012 will come and go like every other year Social Street will be once again down on their knees in the not to distant future. The policies of the socialist regime will be the cause and the effect will be untold gains in the greatest pyramid of all time for the ones who have pulled out of this run up and have taken their ball home so we can play another day. And for the true gamblers out there it is time to start thinking short and GE is on the top of my list because once the commercial mortgage pyramid starts to come down so will ge.

- Friday November 13, 2009 02:44PM EST

It is the drop in the value of the dollar. If you sell a product for $1.00 in one year, but the value drops so you sell it for $1.10 the next year, the $0.10 makes it look like you have more money but in reality you still have the value of $1.00.

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Friday November 13, 2009 02:45PM EST

man he bought pants? some Americans are cutting panst and making shorts out of it

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