Here's 11,000 reasons why

Most Americans don't invest directly in stocks. So to them, the news Monday was no big deal: that, for the first time since June 2001, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 11,000.

But many of these people should rethink that. Although few pick their own stocks, they could very well own them indirectly through mutual funds in their pensions or 401(k) programs.

The stock market both reflects the state of the economy and forecasts what it believes the future holds. By breaking through the 11,000 mark so early in the new year - after being close but coming up short several times last year - the market is predicting a strong economy for 2006. And that's good news for every American.

From the point of view of professional market analysts, stock prices are catching up with last year's torrid corporate earnings. In layman's language, this means that a rising stock market is simply further evidence of how powerful the U.S. economy is.

The nation is in the midst of a perfect storm of a healthy economy - growth of 3.5 percent, jobless rate under 5 percent, low inflation, improving productivity. All this despite a war costing billions of dollars every month, soaring energy prices and hurricanes that tore up the Gulf Coast and destroyed a major U.S. city. Certainly President Bush's tax cuts have something to do with the economic miracle, which is why Congress should make the cuts permanent.

Another major, but often overlooked, player is the work force. Without U.S. workers' dedication and hard work, both the economy and the market would be struggling instead of soaring.