Today the Dow Jones broke through its 2007 high, created an all time new high, and kept on going. But today has a very different feel to it than 2007 did, here’s some bullet points on just how different things are today compared to the 2007 pre-crash high:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: Then (2007) 14164.5; Now (2013) 14164.5
Regular Gas Price: Then $2.75; Now $3.73
GDP Growth: Then +2.5%; Now +1.6%
Americans Unemployed (in Labor Force): Then 6.7 million; Now 13.2 million
Americans On Food Stamps: Then 26.9 million; Now 47.69 million
Size of Fed’s Balance Sheet: Then $0.89 trillion; Now $3.01 trillion
US Debt as a Percentage of GDP: Then ~38%; Now 74.2%
US Deficit (LTM): Then $97 billion; Now $975.6 billion
Total US Debt Outstanding: Then $9.008 trillion; Now $16.43 trillion
US Household Debt: Then $13.5 trillion; Now 12.87 trillion
Labor Force Participation Rate: Then 65.8%; Now 63.6%
Consumer Confidence: Then 99.5; Now 69.6
S&P Rating of the US: Then AAA; Now AA+
NYSE Average LTM Volume (per day): Then 1.3 billion shares; Now 545 million shares
Source
As Jim Cramer said today, “we all know it’s going to end badly, but in the meantime we can make some money”