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One of the reasons for the rise in the stock market is the US accounting board relaxed the mark to market rule. Mark to market means assets have to be valued at their actual value instead of some hoped for value. The banks put great pressure to get this done. On paper it looks like a compromise, but looks to me to be full of loopholes.
So the US banks' financial statements look better, but they aren't. Does this feel familiar? Because it makes things look better, people are more likely to buy stocks. This is all messy, but it does appear things may be getting a little better, though job losses and dividend suspensions won't stop for a while.
Note that in the past month when the market has gone up, trades have been much higher than on days when it has gone down. This is the reverse of what happens during a downward period. No one can say what will happen in the future—is this a dead cat bounce or the beginnings of a long term market recovery. If the latter, getting out now will mean losing money for most people.
I don't know that the NYSE has had a complete collapse since it started under a tree in the 18th Century. That would mean the total collapse of just about every corporation with publicly traded stock and perhaps dissolution of governments. Then all that money taken out of the markets would be worthless and trade would cease. Gold would drop too. Bartering would be the only way to survive. I don't think that's happening.
Gene
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