] Should you be worried that the bull's too bullish?
] Frankly I was. So I asked Morningstar's senior analyst
] Annette Larson for an update of the current P/E ratios of
] the mutual fund world. Price/earnings ratios are one of
] the more interesting benchmarks of market optimism.
]
] And yes, it sure looks like we may be pushing our luck
] folks. A correction may be coming as P/E ratios appear to
] be signaling a renewed overdose of what Alan Greenspan
] and Yale economist Robert Shiller dubbed "irrational
] exuberance."

Price-earnings data says the bulls are too bullish

] SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan
] Greenspan said on Saturday that policymakers have been
] proven correct in their decision not to try to prick a
] 1990s stock-market bubble that subsequently broke on its
] own.
] "There appears to be enough evidence, at least
] tentatively, to conclude that our strategy of addressing
] the bubble's consequences rather than the bubble itself
] has been successful," Greenspan told the annual meeting
] of the American Economic Association in San Diego, Calif.

Greenspan Defends Fed Stock Bubble Policy

] NEW YORK (Reuters) - Although the Dow has closed above
] 10,000 11 times so far this month, it's likely to be
] years before the oldest and most widely watched U.S.
] market measure stays over the mark without falling back.
]
] "If there is a possible correlation, we can expect
] essentially a trading-range bound progression that could
] indeed last up to 20 years, or toward the years 2015-20,"
] said Alan Shaw, a technical analyst at Smith Barney, in a
] recent study.

I hope they are wrong.

Dow 10,000 May Be Ceiling for Years, Patterns Show

Berkshire Hathaway and The Washington Post Co. not only meet the Oracle of Omaha's standards, they make our Clean Stocks list as well. Texas Instruments falls a little short.

Clean enough for Buffett, clean enough for me Clean enough for Buffett, clean enough for me

] At the beginning of the third quarter, analysts were
] still expecting 118 percent earnings growth for the third
] quarter and an increase of 64 percent in the fourth
] quarter. Actual growth turned out to be much lower. For
] the third quarter, earnings were up 29 percent from the
] third quarter of 2001, while fourth quarter earnings
] increased 23 percent.

What egghead on Wall St. expects 118 percent earnings growth???
They are so stupid.

The supposed second-half recovery

Despite the languishing poor on the streets, however, Baghdad's stock exchange is doing a vibrant business. Shares in more than 90 companies are traded twice a week, though the currency collapse has left some shares almost worthless.

Investors in suits and ties line up in the new stock-exchange building, and sometimes use opera glasses to keep tabs on share prices that cover a gamut of companies. Brokers charge around the floor, wiping prices off white boards with ink-stained hands, and writing in new bids.

The activity here, with a modest volume that can reach $67,000 each session, contrasts with the lethargy on the streets.

---

I was wondering how the Iraq stock market was doing. Sounds like they are having a rally!

For Iraq's Educated Elite: Tales of Stock Market, Kitsch Market

] From Dan Mulvihill, another individual investor: "This is
] unlike any war we have ever been in. We are in a bear
] market with very overvalued stocks, our public and
] private debt is bloated beyond any measure in history,
] and we have a faltering economy that has been stimulated
] to unprecedented levels by enormous money creation and
] government spending. And our dollar is sinking fast."
]
] Anita McCormick weighs in with this: "War is a market
] plus? Let's see, what happened to the economy after Iraq
] War I? It tanked, along with Bush No. 1's approval
] ratings and hopes for a second term."

As war looms, many express relief and 'fiscal fear'

] Covad Communications lost nearly half its value Thursday
] when federal regulators ruled to institute a three-year
] phase-out of the discounted network lines the company has
] enjoyed. The selling continued apace Friday.
]
] But some say the decline has been too steep.
]
] "The selling is absurd," said Vik Grover, an analyst at
] Kaufman Bros. "From my perspective, this is not a game
] ender, it's a game changer."

Covad selling may be overdone

] Washington -- Enron Corp.'s 200 highest-paid executives
] received total compensation of $1.4 billion in 2000, more
] than triple the amount the year before, and more than the
] company's $979 million in reported corporate profit,
] according to a three-volume report the congressional
] While its compensation strategy was erasing tax bills in
] the late 1990s, Enron was turning its tax department into
] a profit center, the report found.

Enron's top 200 execs paid themselves $1.4 billion in 2000 / Panel hears how Texas firm arranged to avoid almost all federal taxes

] Wall Street wisdom says fears of a war in Iraq are
] forcing down stock prices. Ironically, it might be
] postwar rally hopes artificially holding stocks up.

Believe it or not, this is the war rally