Serious Money: What's good on Good Friday :-)

At each century mark I like to post something special to note the occasion. This is my 600th post since lead editor Amey Stone asked me to join her original blogging team. That was a little over two years ago and I must say, it has been a fascinating experience from atop AOL's giant soap box.

Although investors have had to withstand a tremendous amount of turmoil in the market place, and not just the stock market, there is much to report that is very positive on this Good Friday. So, in no particular order I give you the following to consider.

• The stock market closed up yesterday, and for the week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average settling in at 12,361.32, up 261.66. The NASDAQ closed at 2,258.11, up 48.15 and the S&P 500 Index finished at 1,329.51 up 31.09.
• The stock market being up at all after so much bad news and given the longer weekend is a miracle. I would have thought traders would have wanted to be out of the market for the stretch. The Dow is above 12,000 and all things considered that is good.
• News from Iraq shows signs of improvement and while Osama bin Laden may still be issuing hateful video tapes, he is not doing so from a five-star hotel and is likely to perish in the rubble of his hiding place.
• Crude oil reached an all-time high price this week, but by Thursday had retreated more than 10% dropping below $100 per barrel. The reason for the retreat was fear about a recession, but I think I will take the lower prices as a positive regardless of the reason.
• We have a vibrant presidential campaign that has stimulated interest among young and old alike with three candidates each offering something new.
• In sports, March Madness is upon us and the NBA play-offs are just around the corner. The boys of summer have started to loosen their limbs for the long stretch to October and the steroid noise has settled down to a whisper, at least for now.
• The majority of economists now seem to believe we are in a recession. That is a good thing because we need capitulation before we can improve. I do not think we will hear the president capitulate, but maybe he has and just can't bring himself to use the word.
• Spring is here and the days are brighter longer.
• Even though many industries have seen a downturn in business, many are still booming.
• The devalued dollar has had the predictable effect of improving our trade imbalances.
• Unemployment is still relatively low.
• AOL finally got it's much improved stock section out of beta test mode this week, now up and running.
• Interest rate cuts (which I have my doubts about) are serving to stabilize financial markets. I think that there will be bad news from the financial markets for the rest of the year, but very little will shock us any more. If the shock effect is gone -- implied by the up market yesterday and to my great surprise last Monday, than we may have turmoil and bad news but after a few more gyrations the stock market will move up.

Among the many good things to report, there is value in the market among many sectors. There are many stocks on my shopping list worth buying. These I will leave for post 601...

Have a GOOD FRIDAY!

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the design and research principal for an architecture and planning firm. He writes Chasing Value and Serious Money columns.