Help me figure this out

These were the first three headlines I saw when I signed on to check the news around 4 pm:

Consumer confidence at all-time low: Business research group says its index of confidence plunges to its lowest level in four decades.

Home prices see another record plunge: 10 major markets have seen home values fall 17.7% over the past 12 months, and experts expect the declines to continue.

Dow's 2nd best day ever

All of these headlines are from CNNMoney.com.

Scroll up for a moment and read those headlines again, and then allow me to recap:

Consumers have no confidence, and the value of their homes is plummeting. But the stock market is doing great!

777

Normally, when I'd see triple sevens like this I'd be screaming WHO'S THE BIG WINNER HERE TONIGHT AT THE CASINO? HUH? YOU ARE, BABY, YOU ARE!!

But those triple sevens don't represent a big win in a swanky casino. They represent yesterday's 777 + point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average after Congress failed to pass the millionaire trader relief act.

Yep, the financial markets discovered what Albert Brooks learned so painfully in Lost in America: when you recklessly piss away your nest egg on Vegas-style gambling, it's not likely anyone is going to give that money back to you.