A fair amount of recent financial news has not been supportive of stocks.  Consumer confidence is down, inflation is still well above target, and the labor market is softening.  As J.P. Morgan’s Dr. David Kelly said recently, the US economy is slowing, ever so slowly.  Add to that a partial shutdown of the U.S. government, and you would not think the market would be at or near record highs. But despite the challenging data, there’s an adage in investing circles that is at pla