As Yogi Berra once said, "It's like deja vu all over again." The market is back to all-news-is-good-news mode and, of late, it pretty much has been all good news. Chicken Little has ducked back into the barn. Most of Asia appears to have bottomed out and stabilized. Japan is doing something about its banking system and economy (but they still don't "get it"). The market always loves interest rate cuts. Third quarter GDP estimates came in at 3.9%, lightyears ahead of the doom-and-gloomers' fears. Other economic indicators continue to hang in there. And investors have switched from "I sold everything when the market went down" mode into "I didn't buy when the market was down, so what do I do now?" This year has presented the greatest learning opportunity for investors in years in terms of knowing thyself, asset allocation, market timing, etc. I'll discuss this on Sound Money in upcoming weeks.

It's Thanksgiving time, and I appreciate living in a country where we have a holiday that is solely devoted to feasting. Well, okay, feasting and football. I am reminded of a wondrous synchronism that occured in my life a few years ago. I was talking to a Fortune 500 executive acquaintance of mine - stock options, multilevel house in the suburbs, numerous folks who jump when he tells them to, etc. He said that his daughter came home from high school and asked if they were rich. "My friends say we're rich." He was strident in his assurances that they were not.

A few days later, a thoroughly middle-class friend - mortgage, 2 children, 2 old cars, holds garage sales to help fund the annual family vacation, etc. - told me that her high-school-age daughter asked if they were rich. My friend explained that while their family was not rich by American standards, they are very rich relative to most people in the world, that even the poorest Americans' living standards exceed most people's.

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving.