Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Better Economic News?

The stock market has risen steadily for about five weeks in a row; the rise has been across most sectors, including banks, tech, and retail. Today, Goldman and Johnson and Johnson reported better than expected earnings.

There's been lots of discussion the past couple of weeks about whether this upswing represents the beginning of "the turnaround" (Obama and his coterie of economic spokesmen keep talking about "green shoots") or whether it's just a bear market rally which will soon be displaced by more bad news.

I am not convinced we are out of the woods. I think people are still going to be scared to return to overspending the way we'd been doing, and as long as people spend/consume at more reasonable levels, the economy won't grow nearly as fast as it did previously.

Products that Johnson and Johnson makes:
  • Band Aids
  • Tylenol
  • Neutrogena
  • Acuvue
196. Which of the above products generates the most revenue? I'd guess Tylenol, but I guess they probably sell tons of Band Aids as well.