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PAUL B. FARRELL 6 reasons I'm calling a bottom and a new bull Forget Roubini: I'm the new Dr. Boom, ahead of Dr. Doom (again!) By Paul B. Farrell , MarketWatch Last update: 7:22 p.m. EDT March 30, 2009 ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- OK, so you're one of millions of investors impatiently waiting on the sidelines, sitting with $2.5 trillion cash under your mattress, waiting for the right moment, that signal screaming: "Bottom's in, start buying!" Yes, it'll go down again, but the bottom's in, thanks to a great March, possibly the third best month since 1950, so it's time to jump back in and buy, buy, buy! You heard me, I'm calling the bottom, beating Dr. Doom to the punch again (yes, again). Last time we were predicting the recession. This time we're calling the market bottom and a new bull.

International Monetary Fund Warning You heard this here first. from Jessies Crossroads Cafe "The crash has laid bare many unpleasant truths about the United States. One of the most alarming, says a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, is that the finance industry has effectively captured our government—a state of affairs that more typically describes emerging markets, and is at the center of many emerging-market crises. If the IMF’s staff could speak freely about the U.S., it would tell us what it tells all countries in this situation: recovery will fail unless we break the financial oligarchy that is blocking essential reform. And if we are to prevent a true depression, we’re running out of time." The Quiet Coup - Simon Johnson - The Atlantic Monthly

Double-digit unemployment rates are un-American A total of seven states have passed the 10% unemployment rate as the Jobless Slump Spreads . The number of U.S. states with a jobless rate exceeding 10 percent almost doubled in February as the worst employment slump in the postwar era spread....

Dayton Business Journal - by G. Scott Thomas Seven states posted unemployment rates above 10 percent in February, as Ohio inched toward the double digits, according to seasonally adjusted figures released Friday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Ohio's unemployment rate for February was 9.4 percent, an increase of 3.5 percentage-points. Michigan registered the nation’s worst rate, with 12 percent of its labor force out of work as of February 2009. Also in double digits were South Carolina (11 percent), Oregon (10.8 percent), North Carolina (10.7 percent), California (10.5 percent), Rhode Island (10.5 percent), and Nevada (10.1 percent). All seven of those states experienced rapid rises in unemployment during the past year. North Carolina’s increase was the sharpest in the nation, up 5.5 percentage points from its February 2008 jobless rate of 5.2 percent. Job Losses Compared