Former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker in an address earlier this year noted: "The fate of the world economy is now totally dependent on the growth of the US economy, which is dependent on the stock market, whose growth is dependent on about 50 stocks, half of which have never reported any earnings."

The irony of the situation was evident in the report from the IMF this week warning about the dangers to world markets of a correction in the inflated valuations on Wall Street.

The IMF was concerned that the return of rising interest rates and the likelihood of a slowdown in the growth of corporate profits boded ill for the market and certainly would not justify current enthusiasm for the market.

Somewhat depressing, then, to see investors shrug off the report and continue to pledge their troth to the ongoing bull market. On Wednesday, when the report came out, the Dow Jones rose 2.21 to 11,036.34; it finished the week at 11,028.43