I am really puzzled at the optimism shown in the stock market in the last couple of weeks. Despite North Korea, plane crashing, people look for the slightest positive news to buy. would like to know your opinion(s).

Who cares, the reality is that the markets were simply waiting for signs that the Fed can't tighten much further and for oil to correct below $58-to-$62 support levels to suggest a top in that bubble and the DOW at 40,000 is just ahead

N. Korea has been causing as much trouble as possible for more than 50 years.Just what would make today any different?

Oddly I think that North Korea with a nuke is actually seen as a positive thing by most people. Why? Because it brings Japan and China together against a common foe. Traditionally the Japs and the Chinese have hated each other and the Chinese have used North Korea to antagonize the Japs. However NK has now gone a bit too far and is more of a liability than an asset to the Chinese.China and Japan having more normal relations will be great for growth in Asia. Japan has a lots of capital and useful technology and plenty of rich consumers but an aging population and shrinking workforce. China has the workers to produce goods for Japan but is still pretty technologically poor.Incidently NK's nuke is only a tiddler and they have not demonstated any ability to actually deploy it on a missile either. In fact NK's conventional forces are far more of a threat. They have enough rockets and howitzers trained on Seoul to flatten it within an hour of war breaking out between the two Koreas.

The NK government has maintained it's stubborn stance for decades. Meanwhile its people starve.All the while, their Korean brothers to the south live happy, free, prosperous lives, in a thriving culture and economy, showing what great things Korean people are capable of given a good government.Also, NK is consistently been belligerent to one of the worlds greatest assets: the USA with it's cheap corn, wheat, poultry, and on and on. (It is a foolish man who gives America the finger.)