The overall markets were up about 2% today, primarily because of a rise in capital goods spending. New durable goods orders excluding transportation rose 2% in August. Wall St. took this as a sign that businesses as a whole are not terribly concerned about a double dip recession.

The market ignored bad news about housing, perhaps because it has been bad for months and that is expected to continue at least through the end of the year. New home sales remained flat in August according to the Commerce Department at a level of 282,000. Most analysts believed the figure would be above 300,000.

Today's closing bell numbers:

Dow Jones 10,860.26 +197.84 (1.86%)
S&P 500 1,148.67 +23.84 (2.12%)
Nasdaq 2,381.22 +54.14 (2.33%)

The most common question I get from friends, family, business associates and, well, everyone is -- Do you expect a double-dip recession? My answer is an unequivocal "No!"

This does not mean that I think we are going to experience a dramatic improvement in the economy. We are not. Many of my colleagues seem to oppose my view, so it is not without some trepidation that I take this stand. However, I see the glass half full. My view is that others are overly influenced by "group-think" and the calls of doom.

I do think that we are currently adrift in uncharted waters and we may have a faulty rudder, too. The biggest fear I have is that everyone jabbering about another deep recession may actually cause one.

The following supports why I feel, from what we know, that we are not destined for a double-dip recession:

The big story today is about housing. It is not good. Existing home sales plunged 27% in July, according to a Bloomberg News survey.

That news wrecked havoc with the markets. The Dow was down over 100 points. On the bright side, US treasuries roared ahead to the lowest yields on record. The yield on the benchmark 10 year note fell to 2.49%. The yield on the two year note is at .4542%. Yes, you read it right. It is less that half of one percent.

Gross domestic product growth slowed to a 2.4% pace, the slowest in nearly a year, the Commerce Department announced Friday. The reading of this measure of economic activity is too weak to push down unemployment. The quarter saw consumers spend less and retailers limit stock, this combined with the fact that the trade deficit had a larger impact on the economy and we have the formula for some rather unpleasant economic news.

Combine this report with the one indicating that the recession was worse than originally thought and our rosy picture of the economy takes a noticeably gray tint.

Well, well, well, it seems that the market has taken yet another bearish turn ... some are even touting that we are in the midst of a double-dip recession. While others will argue that we are not in a double-dip recession, one thing is certain in this market -- uncertainty.

Don't let the recent dips and dives in the market scare you away (President Obama isn't). There are ways to make money in unstable markets. Let's take a look at a way to make money in this market.

The U.S. stock market touched an all-time recovery high on Friday. Based on the technicals, the market should go higher. However, two analysts in particular have differing views.

John Lekas of Leader Capital and Michael Cuggino, portfolio manager at Permanent Portfolio Funds, share their views on the market. Lekas bases his predictions on the ever-growing unemployment looming over the market. The unemployment number was at 785,000 last month and that number is expected to get worse. Lekas states: "So, 26 to 27 million people who are out of work isn't going to help the economy."

There are two opposing schools of thought on the current economic condition. One the one side are those who for see a "double dip" recession with the downturn continuing into next year. On the other side we have another group who see economic growth picking up rather than slacking off next year.

The Economic Cycle Research Institute has developed an index that "predicts" future growth (RPT-ECRI). The index is predicting record growth rate shooting to a hitting a record high. Its weekly leading index rose to 128.3 from 127.1 the prior week.

We've heard from the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve and they say that our recession is ending. We have a 50% bounce in the stock market and we have loads of statistics pointing to a recovery, Now, however, we hear a different voice, one that is steeped in reality, that takes the pulse of business, that is on the front lines, in the trenches so to speak. Let's listen in:

The U.S. is still in a recession which may last until 2010 according to the Association for Financial Professionals. The poll was carried out on Monday and surveyed 1,000 chief financial officers and treasury executives. Here are their findings: