175. Betting on Market to be Better Than My Bowl Picks

What do I know about football, I'm just a dog. Anyway, I'm leading the Bowl pool -- FOR LAST PLACE! I'm so clever. You see, I'll double my money for finishing last (booby prize). All planned -- yeah, right. Anyway, as I recall I'm still looking for that 10800 by year end for the DJIA. According to this article, I may have a chance. The low volatility is key, and unless Santa crashes on his way home, I expect an upside bias. Question then becomes: can the DJIA rally to 11,000 before another breather? I still have my bailing bucket in hand for after the first week in January. As expected, some good jobless numbers came out, but not the overly distorted ones I expected to carry us quickly forward until corrected. We saw housing starts increase in October because of initial tax credit deadline thus boosting the numbers abnormally -- of course November was going to disappoint. However, the tax credit was now extended to April to again make the numbers look like the housing market has turned around in a big way -- again, it will be another artificial move upward to sucker we investors into perilous waters. I would rather see an increase in mortgage down payment requirements, such as, Representative Scott Garrett's proposal here, to avoid future disasters like the 2007-2008 crisis spurred by the finance agencies when they required 0% down payment! But we all know politicians! So, keep an eye out for them relaxing requirements after the first quarter of 2010 when the tax credit no longer provides stability in housing start growth. I'll keep my nose to the ground the next two weeks and see if an Common Scents confirm or change my mind on the market direction.