"It's all relative." You've probably heard this before, and it's true of everything except right and wrong. But it's especially true of economics, and it's doubly true of all the recent scare-talk about the economy. Simply put, the media and the short-sellers on Wall Street are trying to scare us into having a recession. Since the nice people who read this have some interest in facts and figures, here are a few reasons why things aren't so bad.

There are important lessons to be learned from the dollar's fall. That doesn't mean I know what will happen to it next year. This shouldn't be as surprising as it seems -- it's hard to predict short-term price movements for any asset. Think about it: If we all knew that the stock market would be up 10 percent next year, then who would be selling stocks at lower prices now? Any rational seller would either wait to get the higher price at the end of the year, or demand a chunk of that 10 percent premium immediately.

Most people stay at a company less than seven years. Most young people stay at a company less than two. So why are companies still set up for people who stay 40 years and climb the ladder? It makes no sense, and frustrates nearly all workers.

How bad is the current financial crisis? It will probably enter the record books as the second-worst in the last hundred years. The worst was in the early 1930s, when thousands of banks failed and the mortgage market shut down entirely. It hasn't shut down this time, thanks in large part to federal institutions created during the '30s to deal with that crisis.

Today's teenagers, like generations before them, are looking forward to financial independence. But are they really prepared, intellectually, for the responsibilities of adult life? And how do boys and girls differ when it comes to thinking about their financial futures?

Did you know that the global economy could hinge on your maxed-out MasterCard? As we hit the height of the holiday season, 'tis the time to shop. And consumer spending as a whole drives about 70 percent of the U.S. economy. But that engine is threatening to stall out. For those of you who haven't been reading the business pages, here's a recap: U.S. housing prices, after rising like mad for nearly a decade, have gone into a slump. In turn, the value of mortgage-backed securities, a financial innovation that traded intensely during the housing boom, has been called into question.

Who isn't thinking about the environment these days? The Live Earth global series of concerts, the hit documentary film "An Inconvenient Truth," and the selection of Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize have pushed environmental concerns to the forefront of political and social agendas.

In this new weekly column, I'll collect the most insightful, well-researched, and actionable articles published by professional and individual investors on stock market blogs in the past week. My goal is to venture "behind the headlines" -- to find analysis and opinion that will help you recognize opportunities and pitfalls in this dynamic market.

10 Top-Rated Fast-Growing Companies October 1, 2007 by Investor's Business Daily The best performing stocks do well for a variety of reasons but generally they have one thing in common -- solid earnings growth.

Large-caps are the preferred trading vehicles for many institutions. The reasons: ample liquidity, analyst coverage and widely available information. Despite their hefty size, some still are capable of delivering respectable earnings and sales growth quarter after quarter.