Oil rose to the highest level in about four months above $54 a barrel on Thursday as expectations that economic stimulus packages might be working to offset the impact of high oil inventories.

There is an old Wall Street adage that no one rings a bell at major market tops or market bottoms. That may be true in normal times, but as many have noticed, we are now completely through the looking glass.

Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 nations, which account for more than 80% of the world economy, promised at a meeting Saturday to do “whatever is necessary” to fix the global economy. 

Remember our dictum: the force of a correction is equal and opposite to the deception that preceded it.

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Tuesday, the Dow fell 38 points. But the real action is in the gold market – the price rose to $908 per ounce. Even the gold miners are finally going up. What does it mean? Is inflation closer than we thought?

The Fed’s plan to bailout indebted consumers and mortgage holders may sound impressive on paper (remember when $800 billion sounded like a lot of money), but it may just be “spitting in the wind.”

Oil prices have dropped 55 percent from their peak in July and they could go lower. That’s what you want, isn’t it? Cheaper gas and cheaper heating fuel allows you to spend more on things you really need – like your kids’ education or appliances.