After returning from a week in Southern California, where I traveled from Apple Valley to Ontario to Anaheim to Beverly Hills and Santa Monica and talked with hundreds of investors, business owners and “real people,” I have reached a simple conclusion.

Being in the shining light of the sun illuminates your whole life.

So what does that have to do with investing?

Editor's Note: Small-Town Ohio Accountant Uses Simple Forgotten Secret to Help Investors Pocket Millions

Glad you asked.

An excellent investor who lives back east in the snow of Connecticut recently asked me the following: “Has anybody looked at a chart going back 20 years or so?”

Although the press talks about the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index top at 1,576 in 2007, no one talks about the prior top of 1,552 in 2000, 13 years ago.

This will be the third attempt for the market in the past 13 years to rise to significant new highs and break through that 1,550 to 1,576 level once and for all.

Except for the easy money policy of the Federal Reserve, are there any other solid fundamental reasons for the S&P 500 to move significantly higher?

The S&P 500 tripled during the five year period from 1995 to 2000, going from the 450 level to its high of about 1,552 in 2000 before going all the way back down to 800 in 2002.

Then it doubled between 2002 and 2007, before crashing again and going all the way down to 666 until it bottomed in 2009.

Is this time different? I am not convinced yet that it is. I don't consider the country to be economically sound right now and it is a sound economy that is required to propel the stock market.

There is a HUGE difference between 13 years ago and now.

Look at the earnings per share of any S&P 500 stock then and now.

In 2000, the average price-earnings (PE) ratio was in the 30s and you could get 6.75 percent on a 10-year Treasury and 5.5 percent in a money market fund.

Today, the average PE is around 14 to 15, but the 10-year Treasury is under 2 percent and money market funds pay 0.4 percent.

Gold is near all-time highs and commodities are not cheap in my opinion.

After spending a week soaking up the California sun and not encountering any clouds or any person who was the least bit rude or agitated, I reached a conclusion.

Editor's Note: Small-Town Ohio Accountant Uses Simple Forgotten Secret to Help Investors Pocket Millions

While America may not be perfect, there are pockets of beauty and our job as Americans are to find them.

Ignore the pundits and doomsayers who say investing is too dangerous and find your investment “sunshine.”

And if you are unwilling or unable to do so find someone like myself who can help you on your journey.

About the Author: Bill Spetrino
Bill Spetrino is a member of the Moneynews Financial Brain Trust. Click Here to read more of his articles. He is also the editor of the Dividend Machine. Discover more by Clicking Here Now.