Why do I get the feeling in this market that I'm in the Andrea Gail, out by the Flemish Cap.  We just made the turn and everyone's celebrating and the clouds part showing sunshine...for a brief moment..then, "She's not going to let us out..."

I feel that way in particular about AAPL.  Multiples are low.  The stock is cheap on most metrics and yet it has stopped going up, perhaps because people are a bit skeptical that they will keep pulling the rabbit out of the hat with regards to products that everyone wants.

In general, stocks are following that script.  They are cheap relative to other alternatives and yet it's always a wall or worry that we have to climb.  Perhaps that is the way it should be.   Making money should be a struggle just like everything else in life.

So with that in mind, let's stick to our guns and analyze at face value.  Global growth will be slow.  US growth will be slower still, more so with the effects of austerity that will come about inevitably - higher taxes, lower government spending.  Stocks are cheap because they continue to benefit from increases in productivity.  These improvements come at the expense of employment which further clouds the picture for individuals.  There is nothing fun about being made obsolete, but such is the path.  We have to continually re-invent ourselves to stay ahead of the curve.

The $64,000 question is whether there is a time bomb which will slam stocks at some point.  I do not have a crystal ball I can use to avoid this.  We WILL have volatility, but we can use those drops to buy into the ideas we like.  Keep enough powder dry to be flexible.  Stay with some government bonds to sell if we get an event.  This will be better than all cash.  Maybe, if we get lucky, we will get over that wave.