With the stock market having its big rally the past few months a lot of people are now predicting a big economic boom and expecting huge gains in stocks through the rest of the year.

But outside of a few economic reports most signs still point to a sluggish economy. For instance the NPD Group said yesterday that spending for video games fell 23% last month from where it was a year ago.

The best selling video game title in May was UFC 2009 Undisputed" which sold just over a million games. In comparison last year's ultra-violent GTA IV sold 1.3 million units in May.

Console sales also dropped 30%.

The industry is still huge and is not going away, but it shows that consumer discretionary spending is still off from where it was a year ago. The recession is still on. Whether or not a boom is around the corner or not is another story, but seems doubtful. Those calling for a new economic boom were saying the same thing this time a year ago.

Remember then the market rallied huge only to drop in the Fall. Investors still need to stick with stock trading basics to make any money in this market going forward.