At first blush, it does seem like gambling and that I’ve been stricken by gambler’s fallacy. However, I think I see/understand the big market mechanisms at play. This isn’t a roulette wheel. The mechanisms are happening within companies (layoffs, restructuring) coinciding with investor sentiment (fear, pessimism, etc.) and poor macro news… yet fundamentally our society is fine (plenty of education, food, water, energy, housing, etc.). It could be a perfect storm? The historical returns show a series of bad years is followed by a longer series of good years. I’d say that is a reflection of the mechanisms at work. I just saw a bank of america commercial touting “safe” CD like investment products. At the beginning of the housing bubble, b of a advertised mortgages and pride in home ownership (I scored the jingle, so I remember it well). So that’s a contrary indicator I guess. Anyway, I’m humble but bullish now. The most bullish thing I saw recently was obama’s plan to slash the deficit… holy crap THAT is what the market wants to hear.