So you've been fascinated by 800 point drops in the Dow followed by a 450 point pop?

It's all a sideshow.

What is important to the economy isn't the stock market.  The stock market is just a result of what's important.

The important thing is the credit market.

There's something called the LIBOR, which stands for London InterBank Offered Rate.  This is the rate that banks charge each other for short term loans.

The one month LIBOR has gone up from 2.49 percent to 3.93 percent in just one month.  That is nearly 150 basis points in a market where a ten basis point swing is big news.

GE has to now pay about six percent interest on its short term loans.  That is what an AAA rated company with lots of assets and lots of free cash flow has to pay.

You probably are saying, yeah, so the fat cats have to pay more.  How does this affect me?

Every single penny that a company has to pay in interest is a penny they can't use to invest in the business.  That's money they can't use to hire new people, to build new facilities, or to invest in R&D.

If companies can't invest in the business, they can't grow.  And if they can't grow, then they can't hire people.

So stop looking at the stock market.  It's just a distraction.  The real focus should be on the credit markets.