Despite 5 digits for the Dow, economic recovery will still be slow

This is a record year for Trainor Glass Co., but next year won't be.

Or the year after.

Or, God forbid, maybe even the year after that.

"Our company is preparing as if this is it for a while," said Bob Trainor, chief executive of the family-run glazing contractor based in Alsip [Ill.]. "People aren't spending money."

It's reality check time.

The Dow Jones industrial average did indeed blow past 10,000 on Wednesday [Oct. 14]. The latest financial results from some of the nation's leading corporations were indeed pretty rosy. And some economic indicators, from retail sales to industrial inventories, are indeed looking less threatening, according to an Oct. 15 Chicago Tribune column.