I don't want to get all conspiratorial and everything, but things keep getting stranger.
The DOW dropped below 10,000, even after Washington passed "The Fleecing of American Taxpayers Act". It's obvious - the markets don't feel the same about the package as Washington does. I wonder ...
Why would an investor commit capital where if things go wrong, the government will step in and totally wipe them out?
The artificial credit expansion of the Federal Reserve over the past 15 years is reaching it's ultimate conclusion. The massive technological advancements which have increased productivity, have only masked the run-away inflation we've experienced. Instead of seeing large reductions in price and a healthier economy, the "money and credit" binge has put us in the position of potential disaster. As measured by M3 (money supply in banknotes and deposits), the money supply has grown at an annual average rate of 10%.
In the short-run, artificial money expansion appears to be beneficial, but simply increasing the medium of exchange (dollars) does nothing to create real wealth. First we had the stock market bubble, then the real estate bubble, and since it's quite obvious that the fall isn't over, you have to ask yourself ... what's next?
The federal government seems to be preparing for something. I can't say for sure what it is, but civil unrest is certainly on their minds.