RE: 10 signs the stock market may have bottomed"4. Improved Earnings
We have seen several significant U.S. rescue packages showing regulators will not allow the financial system to fail. This occurred with the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailouts and followed the bailout of Bear Stearns and the creation of the Term Auction Facility. Just as important are the 2nd quarter Earnings per Share reports of key financial stocks such as State Street, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan and Bank of America that clearly indicate that analyst expectations for EPS are likely too negative. With EPS deterioration coming to an end, the financials may have stopped being the market loss leaders. "
My concern with these comments lies with: What would happen if the US population wakes up and realizes that their paper currency isn't backed by hard assets anymore - i.e. Gold and Silver? It's quite apparent that the US Gov't has been printing money left and right to cover their spending habits (Wars, bailouts, etc..). Actions of the sort, unfortunately, will need to be addressed at some point in time. My fear is when that happens, all of N.A. is going to feel the fallout and there will be little time to take shelter.
FTR: I'm not a doomsday theorist, but I am keeping an eye open on the US fiscal policies. I would suggest that every savy investor at the very least skim over the subject via Google and YouTube. There are some good clips of Senator Ron Paul talking about the historic downfalls of paper currency on YouTube that would quickly ramp a person up on this subject.
Sky