Suddenly, Wall Street's Not Worried

A good measure of how well the markets have been doing lately is that the Dow was down almost 100 points Monday, and absolutely no one is worried. "People have calmed down," says FORTUNE writer Nelson Schwartz. "They understand that this is just a little profit-taking, and nothing to worry about."

And they have done well. Coming into Monday, the Dow had recovered about 1,500 points, or 20 percent, since it plunged below 7,500 on Oct. 8. And Monday's drop is only the fifth losing session since the turnaround began a month ago. Who gets the credit for turning U.S. investors' frowns upside down? You guessed it -- Alan Greenspan. "The rate cuts obviously worked," says Schwartz. And as of now there's every reason for the Fed to cut again, as expected, at its next meeting November 17. Sure, the economy is still slowing down. Unemployment is still going up. But out in the global economy, the storm clouds have lightened a little bit -- and on Wall Street, that's as good as sunshine.