The unemployment figures are downright depressing. 2008 turned out to be the worst your for jobs since the end of World War II. Will 2009 be even worse? If we continue making triple-digit gains, will any of it even matter?

The equities market has had a less-than-stellar week. With the Dow currently down by triple-digit proportions, the major index has dropped firmly below it final 2008 level. Hopefully that is a comment we cannot make in 51 weeks.

Even with the rather bleak economic news released this week, there is some good news. But let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first.

As you probably heard, the Labor Department announced private firms from across the country shed some 524,000 jobs in December. The losses boost the official unemployment figure to its highest level in 16 years.

While this morning’s number beat most best guesses – even clobbering some of the doomsday estimates – what is most important today is the revised figures released by Washington. It now tells us employers cut 584,000 positions in November and 423,000 in October. Originally, the organization estimated job losses of 533,000 and 320,000, respectively.

While December’s figures took some of the sting off, the revised figures prove the economy was worse off than many folks believed. The equities market is making up the difference today. Increased unemployment will trickle through the economy, creating a strong headwind as we move forward.

But you already know that.

The end of union stupidity?

Let’s move on to some good news… if you consider a 10% wage cut good news.

Even though stocks declining in value outweigh advancers by more than three to one so far today, there is one group of shareholders sitting on some big gains. If you followed my advice, you are one of them.

Last week, I told you about YRC Worldwide (NYSE:YRCW), a national leader in the trucking industry. Shares of the company were creamed over the past year as fuel-price hikes and a slowing economy nearly eliminated the firm’s ability to pay its debt.

The YRC’s management needed all the help it could get to pull itself out of the dire situation. That is why it turned to the Teamsters and asked for wage concessions. It was a controversial and risky move, but as promised, it paid off.

The votes were tallied last night and the union approved a wage cut in exchange for an ownership position. As I write, the folks that followed my advice are sitting on gains of about 130%. Shares are trading for just under our call option strike price of $5, the optimum spot for our covered call strategy.

That trade was just the first in a series of “beta” tests designed to prove the superiority of our “belts and suspenders” strategy. I just told HotStockConfidential subscribers of their second money-making beta play yesterday.

And guess what.

It is already up by double-digit proportions. The play is unfolding just as I envisioned. Even more profit potential is on the way.

This is the perfect time for our “belts and suspenders” strategy. It allows us to take advantage of the market’s volatility while providing us the insurance we need to avoid the kind of losses driving so many investors out of the market.

Over the next few weeks, expect more dreary news from Washington. Be especially careful as Wall Street begins to realize Obama’s stimulus package will do nothing but create false hope.

False hope is still hope, right?

It will be a tough earnings season.

Source: Horrid unemployment and sweet, sweet gains