Fear and panic linger but economy is strong

In current months, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has swung wildly. From its Jan. 2 opening at 7,908.25 to its peak of 9,337.97 on July 17, the DJIA seemed indestructible.

From then until last Friday, though, all of this year's gains were wiped out by the index's fall to 7640.25. Things seemed bad until Tuesday's trading brought it back up 381 points.

Although unpredictable, at every phase the market is driven by the perceptions of two people: the stock's buyer and its seller. And both these people are influenced by the media's coverage of world events.

Considering our comparatively low foreign investment balance and higher reliance on domestic demand, we're in a rather enviable position.

Although politicians point to the negative current accounts deficit and say it's a bad thing, the fact remains that after 15 years of federal deficits we're by far the most economically healthy nation around.

If by continuing to look at the traditional indices, everyone feels the economy is all right, then it is. Let's not give in to the panic that is gripping the rest of the world.