“Better to miss the first 20% of a bull market than try to time the bottom.” Amen to that. Yesterday, the Dow climbed 432 points. There are signs the credit markets are “loosening,” says BusinessWeek. And Fed head Ben Bernanke has called for another stimulus package. Could this be the bottom of the bear? Absolutely. Then again…

US commercial property prices plunged in February, their steepest drop since records began almost 15 years ago, according to a report in the Financial Times.

The value of commercial buildings fell 1.03 per cent between January and February, the largest monthly decline since at least 1993, when the industry was just emerging from a deep slump.

Inflation, if you believe what the government tells you, ran at 3.9% in the 12 months ending this April, but was it more like 5% or even 10%?

According to CNN “part of the disconnect may be due to the fact that nondurable goods, such as food and gasoline, makes up only 12% of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the main measure of inflation.