I Love the WSJ, But Sometimes I Feel Like I'm Reading the Mad Hatter's Blog...

Orwellian...?

Obamian...??

Bushian...???

Take your pick, folks... but when I read "reporting" such as the following I simply scratch my head and wonder if I'm nuts or is it the "establishment" that is mistaking down for up... bad for good...

OK. First of all... the heading: Oil's Climb Helps the Dow

Hmm... ok... let's assume that rising oil prices are part of the explanation for today's (so far!) rising Dow.

Let me ask you... are rising oil prices good for you...???

Here's the opening sentence: Energy stocks helped lead the broad market higher as crude-oil futures climbed above $76 a barrel.

Folks... am I the only one reading that line wishing that instead I was reading... crude-oil futures fell below $66 a barrel... or perhaps $56 or even $46 a barrel...???

Hey... raise your hand if you're hoping and praying that before the year is out crude-oil futures are at $176 a barrel and climbing and that filling up your car (we'll leave heating your home out of it for now) costs you $5... $6... $7 a gallon... or more?!

(*SNORT*)

I don't know... if my reasoning too "divisive" for you... too "pro Main Street," "anti-Wall Street?"

Not being a stock broker or "major player" in "the markets" I tend to look just a bit askance at those who report my personal economic pain (and that of every American who uses energy... meaning... er... every American) in a tone that invites me to cheer my own approaching pain at the pump and elsewhere!

(*HEADACHE*)

So... OPEC and other oil producers - many not exactly "buddies" of our country - are set to see their income and profits rise while my standard of living declines as my wallet empties faster...

This is good news...???

OK... reading on...

Helping commodity prices, the dollar slipped against the euro after the European...

Again... HUH...?!?!

By "helping" the author means "increasing." So let me get this straight... rising prices - the prices we pay for the products we need - are... er... a good thing...??? A lower dollar - which ultimately depresses our standard of living by making the good we import more expensive - is a good thing...???

OK... reading on...

Investors said President Barack Obama's Oval Office address, scheduled for Tuesday evening, could help boost parts of the energy sector.

Again, folks... not to be a wet blanket... but you are aware, I hope, that by "boost" these "investors" mean simply that with any "luck" you and I will soon be paying more for our basic energy needs - paying more while our incomes are staying mostly flat and in many cases declining.

Call me "unsophisticated"... but I don't see the "good" in this from my perspective... or yours...

(*SHRUG*)

Anyway... just throwing it out there, folks!