[But the Dems are telling us the economy is tanking, tanking. . .]

By BETH PISKORA

November 1, 2002 -- The Dow Jones industrial average just racked up its best October since 1987 with a gain of 10.6 percent, marking the Dow's first up month since March.

But most investors aren't popping champagne corks yet.

The Dow is still 29 percent lower than its peak in January 2000. Investors have lost $7.4 trillion since then, and a one-month gain simply isn't enough to improve their moods.

And there are warning signs the economic and market recovery is stalling.

Just yesterday, the U.S. government acknowledged the economy grew at only a 3.1 percent rate in the third quarter, much more slowly than expected.

Meanwhile, a CNBC poll showed 51 percent of Americans think the Bush administration is doing a poor or below-average job handling the economy.

Earlier in the week, consumer confidence slid to a 10-year low while investor confidence slipped to an all-time low.

Investors have a whopping $2.2 trillion parked on the sidelines in money market accounts, according to the latest statistics from the Investment Company Institute, and there is little indication they want to plow that money back into stocks.

Although the Dow registered a gain for the month of October, it had 13 down days along the way, including yesterday when the index dropped 30.38 to 8,397.03.

The technology-packed Nasdaq composite index added 3.02 to 1,329.75. The Standard & Poor's 500 index subtracted 4.95 to 885.76.

"Bear markets frequently have ended in October," said Alan Ackerman, executive vice president at Fahnestock & Co.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2002