Next week will reveal a lot about the state of our economy:

Institute for Supply Management data - April 1st.
The institutes’s data for March suggests a drop to 48.0 which would signal that the economy is close to falling into a recession.

Joint Economic Committee Meeting - April 2nd.
Ben Bernanke is set to testify before the congressional Joint Economic Committee on the out look of our economy. The committee will discuss whether our economy is already in a recession or heading into one.

Earnings: Best Buy and RIM - April 2nd.
Earnings reports for Best Buy (BBY: chart, web, Y!) and Research in Motion (RIMM: …

Between yesterday and todays market action, I’m becoming more and more encouraged that we’re getting closer to the bottom of the market fallout. I’m not sure why I feel that way, because another part of me feels that another shoe may drop, and we’ll be in for another decline.

I heard a comment recently on the radio that there has never been a recession in an election year, mostly due to the fact that those running for re-election become more focused on the needs of the people they represent (i.e. the economy) as those are the people that elect them. Not sure how true that is, but I …

It’s been rather entertaining watching the fear spread over the stock markets for the last couple weeks, and I’ve been rampantly sifting through daily data and charts trying to come up with a diamond in the rough. That strong company whose stock price has been dragged down by the falling markets for no better reason than peer pressure.

I find it interesting that Microsoft (MSFT: chart, web, Y!) wrote up an unsolicited take-over offer for Yahoo (YHOO: chart, web, Y!) to the tune of $45 billion (that Yahoo has now rejected). Obviously they saw …

So we’re going into a recession. There are few out there who have not yet accepted this, and the only thing left to debate is whether we’re already in a recession, and how deep the pain will be.

There are several periods in time when, as investors, we’ve been backed into a similar corner. Perhaps like many of you, I’ve never personally been through a recession with a highly vested interest in the outcome, but there are a vast majority that have.

Recession, the ’90s Version

If you were around in the recession during 1990 and into 1991, you might be …

President Bush is dreaming up ways to “stimulate the economy” as you read this. He will present his grand ideas on January 28th at the annual State of the Union speech.

This desire to stimulate the economy goes beyond the Oval Office, however. On Friday, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid wrote a letter to the President seeking cooperation in developing an economic stimulus plan.

As many of you know, I’m a big fan of letting a free market and free economy work. The last thing we want to do is watch the government try to stimulate the economy. Let the …

Today an employment report revealed that seasonally adjusted nonfarm payrolls rose by 18,000 in December, the weakest job growth since August 2003. On top of that, private-sector payrolls fell by 13,000, the first decline in more than four years.

Most economists, as well as the market, were expecting payrolls to increase about 58,000 in December.

I view this as a sign that the economy is starting to falter. Housing is in toilets, unemployment is rising, consumer spending is in limbo, gas prices are high and going higher, and to cap it all off, our credit cards are maxed out (and by “we” I mean Americans in general).

It doesn’t help that …