At times like these, I begin to think the stock market has a mind of its own. Sometimes its does, particularly when there is divine intervention from underlying sources. But despite all shenanigans from Executive Order 12631- the Plunge Protection Team, the misleading retail sales numbers, the misleading inflation data, the misleading jobs data, etc. The bottom-line is that corporate profits and a rising stock market depend on people like you and I.

As I was flipping through the channels last night, I caught a very gutsy comment by Glen Beck. While I don't agree with everything Beck says, he did say something that really hit home with me.

Without Christians, there would be no Christmas. Without Christians retail sales would tank. Christians are the one's that drive retail sales during the months of November and December. Like it or not, Christmas literally means “the Mass of Christ".

If 70% of GDP is the consumer, and since an estimated 82% of the U.S. population is Christian, I would think retailers would do everything in their power to appeal to this group during the biggest shopping time of the year. In other words, they need to do some major sucking up. Remember, corporate profits are all about people.