Since Barack Obama was elected president the stock market has declined nearly 10%.  I don't blame President-elect Obama for any of the current economic mess, but he wanted the job and now he has to deliver.  He will hold his first press briefing today and is expected to address economic issues.  What is needed more than anything right now is a restoration of confidence that the government can function effectively.  I voted for Obama because I thought he was the kind of leader that can restore confidence.  He could start by not raising capital gains taxes.  He can also stop spending $10 billion per month in Iraq.  The jobs figure will come out after this posting and it's expected to be bad.  Although the market looks terrible now many quality stocks are dirt cheap. Unless we are headed for economic depression companies like Alcoa (NYSE-AA) are very attractive right now.