Beware the lair of the seiya

The news, at least the financial news, is almost all bad.

This morning, the announcement was that Q4 GDP fell 6.2% on an annual basis. Expectations were for a 5.4% drop.

It’s been a drumbeat of bad and ugly, without the good.

So where do we find the optimism?

How about the “things can’t get worse now, can they?” To steal a phrase, yes we can. If you think things are bad now, imagine how bad it’d be with the 25-30% unemployment we had during the Great Depression.

Another way to look at it is, if everyone’s bearish, that’s usually a good time to buy. This one does seem to be working today; the Investors Intelligence Bull/Bear Ratio is spiking, which historically has been a buy signal.

I picked up some McDonald’s and GE at these levels. GE strictly for a trade, I don’t trust those guys farther than I can throw them.