Stocks are up because they have been undervalued for some time due to reverse irrational exuberance. Fears such as Greece is going to bring the world markets down. Hasn't had much to do about individual companies earnings lately just fear over all....and manipulation.

Some of us get to be "the rich" to people like you. I've been doing very well in this horrible economy/market.

People like me?,...................

Congratulations?

The below posted by Hankster in August:

What do you think will happen next month Dave?

2nd qrtr GDP numbers were poor with only a 2.4% gain. 1.1% of that was companies building their inventories. That means only 1.3% can be attributed to actual demand.

I am not stupid enough to predict what the market will do next week, let alone next month, but so far September has NOT responded as Hank thought it would.

Today’s financial headline:

The major averages are hovering near the unchanged mark Friday as traders await the next round of economic data. The Dow has risen six out of the past seven days, and is up 4 percent in September.

The moral, if you try to predict the market you will be wrong as often as you are right. Try a bit of day trading, if you think you know which way it will go short term.

Soooo. Hank another prediction? You have been sooo good so far. NOT!

Hankster:

Your question came with a lot of baggage. Sort of like, “Have you stopped beating your wife?” If you had read my posts carefully you would see that I consistently avoid stock market predictions. In fact, that was the essence of my post.

"Over the years, several studies have shown that the stock market has fared markedly better under Democrats than Republicans"
Source:
http://www.forbes.com/2004/07/21/cx_da_0721presidents.html