It's very important to understand that the market, especially the Dow, which is all of 30 stocks, is at best peripherally connected to the economy at large. The reason the Dow has not reacted is that it has almost nothing to do with the economy.
Various companies are declaring bankruptcy. That does not mean they are shutting down completely. It means that they are going to be able to restructure their debt, cast off certain financial obligations, and move forward. Trust me, I know about this. I worked for ten years for an airline that went through at least two bankruptcies, and was able to divest itself from its pension obligations. Which means that my pension is less than one third of what it should be. For me, personally, it's not a big deal as I'd never thought I'd get much money from the pension. But for the co-workers who stayed there 30 years or more, who counted on that pension as a significant part of their retirement income, whoops! All of a sudden the largest part of their retirement income became the smallest part. The enraging thing is that they had done everything they were supposed to. And now it was kicked out from under them.
People who piss and moan about the 401k are clueless. At least the 401k isn't subject to things like the company going bankrupt. You actually have control over your investments, and it's crucial you pay attention and maintain that control.
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