Since March of 2009, the market meme has been “the second leg down of the Great Crash.” However, Mr. Market has ignored the thoughts of the doomers (e.g., Nouriel Roubini) while melting up ~65% from last year’s heart-stopping lows. Now the meme Dow 11,000 is starting to take center stage.

With the mid-term elections in November, any politician worth their weight in spin will do everything possible to keep both the stock and housing markets buoyed. Furthermore, as we discussed in our new issue of Wall St. Cheat Sheet Premium, there are several economic indicators which are signaling the recovery has some legs. Let’s take a look at some of the other developments that make this Dow 11,000 different than the last time we saw these levels:

The Day Before the End of the World

1) The last time the Dow was above 11,000, we had not yet barfed over our buzz-sawed equity accounts.

2) Although the smartest money had clearly been distributing shares since the end of 2007, the mainstream media was still begging people to buy the dips.

3) The national average price for gas was $3.83 a gallon.

4) Lehman Brothers employees were still doing business as a solvent entity.

5) Flip That House was starting to look like an episode of Saturday Night Live.

6) VIX volatility was about to explode 400%.

7) Gold was trading at ~$900 an ounce.

8) Headline unemployment was 6% — over 40% lower than today.

9) George W. Bush was still President.

10) Michael Jackson was still performing.

11) Americans had yet to trade their clunkers for cash.

12) The number of bankruptcies were over 70% lower than today.

13) Foreclosures were less than 2% of the property market. Now they are over 4.5%.

What else was noteworthy for this list? Let us know in the comments below and we’ll add it …

Whether you love or hate Sarah Palin, one thing is for sure: the woman is minting money like SAC Capital’s Stevie Cohen.

This morning Harper Collins announced Palin has a new book. Wait. Didn’t she just publish a book a few months ago?

Seems Palin and her entourage have taken a page out of Lil Wayne’s music business strategy: when the block is hot, keep pumping out new content for the fans. I would too if I earned a cool $2.2 million on my freshman attempt Going Rogue.

But don’t stop there. Palin is turning into a regular media mogul. FOX reports she and Survivor producer Mark Burnett are also pitching the network on a documentary about her home state Alaska. Has Palin been meeting with Jennifer Lopez to get tips on breaking into the movie business from another sector? Don’t laugh. It may not be long before Palin is walking the red carpet at the Academy Awards.

That’s not all. When Palin spoke at the Tea Party convention she pocketed a mind-numbing $100,000 for 45 minutes of talking. That’s $133,333 an hour. A rate like that means Palin officially can’t make any more lawyer jokes.

If you are confused whether Palin is a politician or a media mogul, the aforementioned mini-empire seems to make the picture clear.

Do you think Palin will make a run for the White House in 2012? Let us know in the comments below …