We're all trying to figure out, why are stocks up today. Sarah Gilbert and Sheldon Liber have been IM-ing in search of answers. He says it's all because of Barron's cover story. She might agree. You'll see Sarah's comments in blue.

Powerful Media Influence + Facts = Real Market Boost. This weekend's Barron's cover story is "Time to Buy" and this morning the markets moved up in excitement. On page 21 the spread outlines numerous factors which may produce big gains in the stock market. In particular, Andrew Bary makes the case for S&P growth. The market has been held back for a number of reasons, creating uncertainty. Uncertainty is bad.

Specifically; interest rates have been rising, energy costs have been rising, war has broken out in the Middle East, Iraq remains a powder keg and North Korea is run by a power-mongering, risk-taking nut case. Add to that concerns about global warming, a weakening housing market, heat waves and hurricanes and the plain old summer market doldrums -- so what would you expect? Even I -- a woman who usually pooh-poohs the effects of international politics on investments like eBay and Starbucks, some of my favorite stocks -- have been made nervous by the Mideast crisis. When Melly Alazraki sent an email this weekend telling us she was fleeing her family's home in Israel, I was shocked to the core and about as far from a buying mood as you can be.

However, Barron's makes a case for light at the end of the tunnel. Large companies have been building shareholder equity for four to five years, but company valuations have stayed put, so P/E ratios are looking low by historic comparisons and have actually shrunk. Earnings growth, has outstripped gains in the stock prices. According to Bary, growth has outpaced stock prices for 12 quarters.