The guru's of the present financial crisis, Nouriel Roubini and Robert Shiller, are saying that the present financial crisis may continue for another six months. They cite the psychological mood during the Great Depression when people were gripped with "fear," a fear that prolonged the depression and which President Franklin Roosevelt addressed.

People are not seeing job creation or an improvement in the economy. Consumer sentiment is deteriorating. The stock market is falling again. Specifically they cite:

• Consumer confidence fell to 49.3 in June from 54.8 in May.
• The economy shrank 5.5% in the first quarter.
• The savings rate reached 6.9% in May, the highest since 1993.
• Home prices in seven metropolitan areas fell .7% in April.

If you have ever traded the bond market you will understand the current debate about the stimulus program. When first interest rates were lowered, traders would run up the bond market. Then after a big rally and a pullback, they would start the rumor of another rate cut and that would rally the market again.

Now we have a similar psychological dynamic in play regarding the stimulus program. After agreeing the spend $787 billion dollars, the market rallied off its lows of about 6400 in the Dow to about 8800. Now there is a pullback nearing 8000 in the Dow and there is new talk about the need for an additional stimulus package.

This has set off a firestorm of debate in Congress. Republicans are saying that the first stimulus did not work, while Democrats are saying that the effects of the stimulus will not take effect until next year. They further point out that 63% of the stimulus money went for Medicaid and $29 billion was distributed to the states.

So now the battle lines are drawn again. Is there a need for a new stimulus package? Did the present package do the job? And on and on they go.

Do you believe that we need another stimulus package?