by James Copenhaver

April showers bring May flowers, as the saying goes, and the first quarter of 2008 seemed more like forty days and forty nights of rain…that would either force us to seek higher ground or provide a bountiful bouquet of flowers.

I prefer the flowers to the deluge.

With so many events occurring these past few months, I think it is time for a different tact.

Consider this:

Unemployment was at 5.1% in March and is likely to rise; however, this percentage is still much lower than in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Look how far we’ve come since 2003. The Dow is up 46.9%, and the S&P 500 has increased 51.9% over the period from December 30, 2002, to March 31, 2008.

While these are challenging times, we’ve been here before and managed to persevere and capitalize on the times ahead.