Bad economy? It's worth a laugh

Today the stock market was hit hard by a batch of horrid economic reports that were released this morning. If you didn't follow the news today, here's an abridged run-up of what happened:

• Unemployment claims rose to 588,000 (slightly above the forecast).
• Really troubling was the number of Americans forced to file for continuing unemployment benefits because they can’t find a job. That number grew to 4.77 million, the highest figure on record. Um, yeah. Aaaand we haven't seen the worst of the jobs situation yet. Just sit tight.
  
• "New home" sales dropped 14.7% to an annual rate of 331,000 – way below the forecast of 400,000. This was the worst "new home" sales reading in more than 40 years of data compilation.
• Many argue that the housing crisis started this economic meltdown and that we won’t pull out of it until the housing market turns around. Today’s report on new home sales did not reinforce the hope that we might be pulling out of the maelstrom.
  

Now that we have that bad news out of the way, what better way to deal with the crisis than by having a good laugh? If you haven't already seen this E*Trade "outtakes" reel from the baby commercials they've been running, you must watch -- it's hilarious. I just had to post. My favorite part is when one of the babies asks: "What did I think of the economy in 2008?" and commences to vomiting all over himself in response. Priceless:



(Thanks Julie over at Beef Up Your Piggy!)