CROPS

Thirty-nine months have passed since February of 2009, when the stock market was at its lowest point since spring of 1997, a 15-year low!

Twenty-five of those recent months ended higher than the previous month, 14 ended unchanged or lower, as the Dow Jones Industrial average has climbed more than 6,000 points, an 87 percent increase! It has been a profoundly powerful move right into an election year. Investors, even the small 401(k) kind, are feeling relatively relaxed today. All eyes on Europe.

What does it mean, "antiausterity"? Will the socialists in France find a way to grow out of trouble...