The economic prognosis is relentlessly bleak.
Jobless numbers are soaring. Stocks are plunging. Your co-workers, your fellow passengers on the commuter train and even your dental hygienist are all volunteering that they've converted their 401(k) stock funds to cash.
Could it mean a bull market is just around the corner?
Economists and market strategists willing to call a bottom amid the current market turmoil are thin on the ground, vastly outnumbered by forecasters with distinctly more apocalyptic outlooks.
Yet with the Dow Jones industrial average trading at 34.6% below the all-time peak of 14,164.53 it reached exactly one year ago today, there are signs that conditions are in place for a sharp reversal of sentiment, some analysts say.
For evidence, they cite rock-bottom interest rates, tumbling prices of oil and other commodities and, not least, concerted efforts by central bankers to get the global economy back in gear.
"These are the moments that people look back on and say, 'Man, if I only bought then!' " said economist Zachary Karabell, founder of River- Twice Research. "And nobody ever does."
One glimmer of hope came in Wednesday's coordinated rate cut by central banks in the United States and Europe. Many take the action as a signal that international economic regulators are determined not to repeat the mistakes of the 1930s, when central banks did just the opposite, tightening credit despite an economic slowdown. Further rate cuts may be in the offing.
In the U.S., rates already are approaching historic lows. Wednesday's action by the Federal Reserve will drive the prime lending rate to 4.5%, its lowest level in four years and less than half the rate seen during much of the grinding bear market of 1973-74. That will make it cheaper for many people to buy big-ticket items such as cars and furniture on credit.
Then there's the bailout. Governments worldwide are pumping trillions of dollars into their banking systems, including the U.S. mortgage rescue plan of up to $700 billion.
Many national governments are promising to insure all bank deposits and other bank liabilities, and the U.S. could soon follow suit. Central bankers are finding new and creative ways to keep their systems afloat, with the Fed preparing to lend against collateral it would not have accepted two years ago -- or even against no collateral.
