Is This Stock Market Rally for Real?

John Browne submits:This week, the financial media celebrated as the Dow closed above the 12,000 mark for the first time since June 19th, 2008. For many, this milestone is another sign that the financial nightmare of the past three years will soon fade in the rearview mirror.

The World Economic Forum's annual meeting broke up on Saturday night amid warnings that attendees were too relaxed and optimistic about the state of the global economy.

Steve Reitmeister submits:September's Employment Situation was worse than expected Friday morning. Yet bad news is good news these days for those who think a second round of Fed quantitative easing (QE2) will bolster the markets. So stocks bolted into positive territory on the day, pushing up to Dow 11,000.It’s an odd dichotomy. We have a somewhat improving economy. Yet the average person does not feel better about the situation. That’s because either they or someone close to them is out of work.

“How do we explain 15%?” I caught that quote yesterday afternoon from one of the financial news anchors as he attempted to decode the recent market action. It’s all too clear that what we’ve experienced during the first five months of the year feels foreign to everyone living in a post-financial crisis world. For most investors, it’s weird to think of stocks as their go-to investing option. For the past decade, it’s been bonds, gold, commodities, real-estate—anything but stocks, please. Now the market’s up more than 15% on the year.

By Market Blog: By David Berman If you’re skeptical about the existence of Santa Claus, you might also wonder if Santa Claus rallies are also real. These are stock market rallies that are supposed to kick in after the Christmas holidays and end with the arrival of the New Year – and there is some persuasive evidence supporting their existence.