Recession is officially "over"

Much of the recent market gains seems to be due to an economic report stating that the recession is officially over and ended in June, 2009. Well.. it might be official, but for the millions of Americans living on food stamps and other government assistance it sure feels like we're still in one.. So is the market just going up as a response to a declining US Dollar, or in response to a rising gold price (indicating inflation and price recovery)? Or are just pumped up on an economic "sugar high" from that stimulus that increased our national debt by over 10%, a stimulus that may lead to a major hangover.

Please review the following and ask yourself if we're out of recession:

The following are 15 shocking poverty statistics that are skyrocketing as the American middle class continues to be slowly wiped out....

#1 Approximately 45 million Americans were living in poverty in 2009.

#2 According to the Associated Press, experts believe that 2009 saw the largest single year increase in the U.S. poverty rate since the U.S. government began calculating poverty figures back in 1959.

#3 The U.S. poverty rate is now the third worst among the developed nations tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

#4 According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, on a year-over-year basis, household participation in the food stamp program has increased 20.28%.

#5 The number of Americans on food stamps surpassed 41 million for the first time ever in June.

#6 As of June, the number of Americans on food stamps had set a new all-time record for 19 consecutive months.

#7 One out of every six Americans is now being served by at least one government anti-poverty program.

#8 More than 50 million Americans are now on Medicaid, the U.S. government health care program designed principally to help the poor.

#9 One out of every seven mortgages in the United States was either delinquent or in foreclosure during the first quarter of 2010.

#10 Nearly 10 million Americans now receive unemployment insurance, which is almost four times as many as were receiving it in 2007.

#11 The number of Americans receiving long-term unemployment benefits has risen over 60 percent in just the past year.

#12 According to one recent survey, 28% of all U.S. households have at least one member that is looking for a full-time job.

#13 Nationwide, bankruptcy filings rose 20 percent in the 12 month period ending June 30th.

#14 More than 25 percent of all Americans now have a credit score below 599.

#15 One out of every five children in the United States is now living in poverty.

The Middle Class Recession

So am I buying into this economic recovery scenario? Not yet.

My view of the market action of late is that we're in a short-squeeze scenario. With everyone being so negative, including myself, it shook a lot of people out of the markets, while others were going short. And short interest is a terrific level, so short-covering could fuel a significant rally if buying interest continues:

NYSE Short Interest Remains Near Record

Personally, considering the lack of volume being seen, it's not a sustainable rally. But it can go on for a few more weeks, or completely collapse tomorrow. It's very vulnerable to "event risk".

Be nimble and look for longer term trends.

Scrutinizer