As we all know, the depression is over. The stock market seems to think so… with the Dow up 32 more points on Friday… and apparently eager to go higher. Oil rose above $64. And gold is trading at $937 this morning.

“Recession easing, but not over: survey.” This morning’s headline, as far as we can tell, only goes to prove that Mark Twain should be quoted far more often: “If you don’t read the paper, you’re uninformed. If you do, you’re misinformed.”

It takes more than two to make a trend.  JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) yesterday (Thursday) became the second major U.S. investment bank – following Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) – to this week report windfall profits for the second-quarter. That’s helped fuel a four-day advance in U.S. stocks that’s seen the Dow Jones Industrial Average surge 7%.

How to Make 191% Gains as Wall Street Swallows a Poison Pill – Again! I could start out today’s column by telling you all about how official unemployment is at a 26-year high at 9.5%. I could go on at length as to how unofficial unemployment may very well be double that and we’d never know.

U.S. Government to Hold Hearings on Futures Trading; Boeing to Acquire 787 Fuselage Maker; Job Losses Contribute to Rising Credit Delinquencies; Ex-Goldman Sachs Worker May Have Stolen Crucial Code; Declining Southwest Traffic Prompts Deep Fare Discounts; GM Asks U.S. to Let It Drop Dealers, Parts Maker Files for Bankruptcy