But, it seems on some days, no one is buying. On other days, buying seems frenetic, driven mostly by short-sellers covering their bets. Capital is shifting to deserving sectors of the economy, such as railroads and energy development. But their chief executives haven't become media darlings, and probably never will. Other money has shifted from stocks to bonds and money market funds, pushing interest rates lower.
Inflation remains dormant, and consumers continue to spend.
Yet economic doomsayers hold the megaphone. It is much broader and deeper, possibly because it was so abrupt. But stories about a bursting tech stock bubble wore thin this winter as the more broadly based Dow Jones industrial average joined the parade of losers. In March, the Dow sank to levels not seen in two years. The Dow Jones utility average, which soared 45 percent during last year's tech wreck, hit its own wall in January.