And with upcoming purchase of the DOW by the Murdoch Media Machine(tm), that may be the last time that even this number has any passing relationship to reality. Of course, the DOW is a collection of only 30 cherry-picked stocks, fed through an arcane formula to produce an end product that is often a twisted mirror of America's financial health, but its a traditional number, so I can go with it.
Now, however, a memo will come down from Corporate that that DOW must react badly to some news about laws against media consolation, and it will be the responsibility of the working stiffs to make sure that this message goes out, regardless of reality (not making this up - this how FOX News stays "on message" (and the current message is - "whatever you do, don't mention the war")). So we're looking at another measurement overtaken by the very people that it is supposed to measure, and we know how that turns out.
But in the meantime, Americans are expected to be thankful for their 3 buck a gallon gas, since they were saying that it would be 4 buck a gallon (and still can be, if we don't shape up and stay "on message").
More later,
Update Oops! In the time it takes to write this up, the DOW slides 150 points. Ah, well, it was interesting while it lasted.