Recipe for a Recovery: Wall Street Weighs In on What This Market Really Needs

A U.S. stock investor can be excused for feeling like a skater who has fallen through the ice on the pond. Every time he tries to pull himself out, the ice breaks and he's back in the icy drink courtesy of another lousy earnings warning like the one Microsoft(MSFT Quote) announced Thursday. He's treading water, more than a bit scared and waiting to be rescued.

So what must happen to rescue the stock market in this colder-than-usual winter?

First and foremost, it's the economy, stupid. (Pay attention, Dubyah.) Slow growth means slow earnings growth. I wrote about this the day before yesterday, but let's spin it out some more.

What you need to know above all is, as Morgan Stanley Dean Witter global economist Stephen Roach wrote this week, "when does it make sense for investors to ignore the near-term perils and focus on the next upleg of the global business cycle?" ...