Twenty-four hours in a day lining up with 24 cans of beer in a case is a good comical coincidence (or is it?). Here is another numerical coincidence that is more disconcerting than comical.  The Dow Jones is at 18,000 just as the national debt reaches 18 trillion dollars  (18,000,000,000,000).  Of note is the fact that the national debt climbed by $8 trillion from 2008 as the Dow Jones added 8,000 points in the same time period. Deficit spending seems to have a tight correlation with the movement of the stock market.  In this case, correlation may not equal causation, but they are not totally disconnected. Imagine if the federal government had to balance the budget.  That the only money it could spend is money it went out and borrowed in the free market, or raised via taxes and fees.  Imagine again if the Federal Reserve wasn’t forcing the borrowing costs to near zero and all-time lows under a guise that employment was the main...(Read Full Post)