All your points are good ones, REW----but----(not willing to surrender my cloud of gloom and doom):
Do you really see any meaningful upswings between now and the end of the year, with end-of the-year accounting and consumer spending decreasing (the holiday season will be dismal).
According to this Yahoo article:
Stocks plunge for third straight session - Yahoo! News
"There just doesn't appear to be an end in sight to the bad news," said Anton Schutz, portfolio manager of the Burnham Financial Industries Fund and the Burnham Financial Services Fund. "The selling is relentless."
There is some concern that the bailout funds are being depleted rather quickly, said Jason O'Donnell, senior research analyst at Boenning & Scattergood.
But investors are worried that a severe pullback in consumer spending — which drives more than two-thirds of the U.S. economy — will prolong a global economic downturn.
The market started the day falling on more signs that companies are being hurt by a severe pullback in consumer spending. Macy's Inc. said it lost $44 million in the third quarter as sales at the department store retailer fell more than 7 percent. And consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Co. slashed its fiscal 2009 guidance on fears that consumer spending will erode even further.
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley, suffering from the ongoing losses on Wall Street, outlined plans to cut 10 percent of staff in its institutional securities group — its biggest business that covers everything from investment banking to stock trading
The bleak reports, which followed disappointing news from coffee retailer Starbucks Corp. and homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc. earlier in the week, made it increasingly clear to investors that companies across the economy are suffering from the aftermath of the housing and credit crises.
And to top it all, AmEx is even asking for a government boost to help its balance sheets!
So---can there be a rebound in sight in the next year or two?