The economy is on the verge of Collapsing

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks ended a listless day higher Friday, with the broader market capping off a sixth straight week of gains. The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 both rose about 0.2%. The Nasdaq added 0.4%.


All three indexes ended higher for the week. The Dow and S&P 500 have advanced for six weeks in a row, while the Nasdaq has gained ground the past five weeks.
Stocks have been trading near the highest levels since May 2008. The S&P 500 closed less than five points below the key 1,420 level.
United Technologies (UTX, Fortune 500) was the top gainer on the Dow, while drug maker Merck (MRK, Fortune 500) was the main drag on the index.
Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) stock rose to a fresh all-time high, climbing above $644 a share.
Investors also focused on the latest corporate earnings and sales data, as well as reports on consumer sentiment and leading economic indicators.
Trading volume has been low over the past few days, with many investors on vacation and little news out of Europe.
"There's no volume out there," said Bernard Kavanagh, vice president of portfolio management for St. Louis-based broker Stifel Nicolaus. "It's the typical end of August trading."
U.S. stocks closed higher Thursday following strong earnings from Cisco Systems (CSCO, Fortune 500) and a mixed bag of economic data.
Fear & Greed Index
World Markets: European stocks closed higher. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.3%, the DAX in Germany added 0.6% and France's CAC 40 gained 0.1%.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated late Thursday that European policymakers are committed to doing everything they can to support the euro, reigniting hope for further central bank action.
Asian markets ended higher. The Shanghai Composite closed up 0.1%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong and Japan's Nikkei gained 0.8%.
Economy:The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index rose to 73.6 in early August from 72.3 last month. The preliminary reading was expected to come in at 72.2.
Separately, the Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators for July rose 0.4%. It was expected to have increased by 0.2%.
Companies:Gap (GPS, Fortune 500) reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings late Thursday. The retailer also raised its outlook for full-year earnings and increased its dividend payment. Shares rose nearly 5%.
Shares of J.M. Smucker (SJM, Fortune 500) rose 5% after it reported earnings that topped analysts' expectations and issued an upbeat outlook.
Footlocker (FL, Fortune 500) reported strong second-quarter results, sending its shares up 1.8%.
Facebook (FB) shares fell to another record low one day after the social media company's "lock-up period" for company insiders expired.

Well shit, lets take some more money out of the economy by way of taxes and give it to the government to squander!

The only thing keeping investors from broader panic is the perception of calm among many "experts". In reality the US political season is a prime player in world economics this past 2 years. As the largest consumer nation and being the largest market for exporters overseas makes us interesting. Once the hand has been dealt in November, and after the Christmas shopping season as well, we can expect some real turmoil globally when speaking of economies.

Make no mistake here - the wealthy determined long ago that the limited money supplies in circulation in the world do not belong in the hands of working folk. 'Nuff said.

Taxes are just a big Ponzi Scheme. We give them to the gov, and they piss it all away. Never fails!

hotrod-The fact the we the people are the only folks in the world buying up many nations imports to us, it makes us very important. That's one of the reasons we will never see china, japan and other that hold US treasuries dump our debt and switch to a new currency because they depend on us US consumers to buy their shit. Without us, they are nothing.

That fact that you associate Obama's admin(centrist leaning right) with communism in any way, shape or form, tells myself and others that nobody should be taking any type of advice from you.

lol Love the profile pic. Not impressed indeed.

You should have both Ryan and Romney up there, hell almost the entire republican party.