Today's Rosy Headlines (or "Midway in the journey of my life, I found myself in a dark wood.")

Oooh, the good news just keeps a-rollin' in. Do not forget that enlightened right-wingers like Amity Shlaes or the editors of the Wall Street Journal or our newest political has-been John McCain believe that the 'fundamentals are sound' and this is just a dip in the gilded road of American Progress. Onward and upward, Dow 36,000 and all that. Never say 'recession' and may Lightning Strike You Down if you say the "D" word.

• Jobless Rate at 14-Year High After Big October Losses. Almost a quarter million people lost their jobs in October alone. Total job losses for the year = 1.2 million. Official unemployment up to 6.5%, meaning the real unemployment is probably around 13%. My prediction: we will see official unemployment hit 10% before we're out of this dark wood. BUT

• Stocks Are Higher After Jobs Report. Refer back to an earlier rant of mine about how Wall Street just luuuuvs bad news if it's bad for us regular little peoples.

• Retailers Report a Sales Collapse. You can only go on spending the nuthin' you do have or the sumpthin' you don't have for so long. Still waiting for Henry Paulson's announcement that he is going to inject liquidity into US. (Of course, when the Feds inject liquidity into regular folks, it's usually in the form of a lethal injection.)

• Goldman Forecasts Deepest Recession Since Reagan Era. But not for Goldman and not for its executives. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor. . . .

• Pending Sales of Existing Homes in U.S. Fell 4.6%. And the rental market is tightening (people forced out of homes due to foreclosures). Do you know where you're sleeping tonight?

(By the way, Kevin Hassett, co-author of Dow 36,000 was an economic advisor to the McCain campaign. James Glassman, the other co-author, replaced Karen Hughes as Bush's Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy — propanda minister. All of which just goes to show, if you got The Official American Seal of Approval, you can't help but fall up, up, up, ever up.)