While doing stock investment research, I ran across an excellent website from the UK called The Market Oracle. Like the oracles of ancient times, this one predicts the future, but unlike the ancient oracles, this one focuses on financial news, providing free stock market quotes, hot stocks to watch, and other aspects of stock investment research. But the most recent free stock market quotes I found on The Market Oracle present a horrifying picture of US markets, and dire predictions about the direction of the US economy, "So far in 2008, both the Wilshire 5000 (which is essentially the entire U.S. stock market) and the S&P 500 have lost all their gains from the entire year of 2007 in just the first three trading days of 2008. Gold set a new record high , Thursday intraday and closing, at 872.90 and 869.10 respectively. Oil hit $100 a barrel for a moment intraday Wednesday, for the first time ever . The HUI Amex Gold Bugs Index enjoyed an 11.83 percent pop the first three trading days of 2008. Sweet. Treasury Bonds rose 2 points , closing inches from 118.00. The Dollar got carved up , falling into the 75's." What this means, folks, is that the US economy is looking at a serious, long-last recession unless market conditions change drastically. Only the rise of hot stocks to watch in the tech sector may save the beleaguered US economy.
