It is a remarkable reversal in from just a few months ago, when the broader economy seemed relatively healthy but Wall Street was traumatized by billions of dollars in - related losses. Now, bankers and investors appear ready to look past the crisis to more times, while consumers find themselves in a more precarious position as the job market weakens and banks make it harder to borrow money. It is, of course, not for Wall Street to run ahead of the broader economy. Investors, after all, make money by anticipating the future. The job market, by , improves more slowly than other aspects of the economy. But specialists say the two sides will eventually converge. Either the markets will give up their recent or, if the optimists are right, the broader economy will show greater strength as tax rebate checks and lower interest rates the economy. There have been false dawns before. Last spring, after several mortgage companies , Mr. Paulson and the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben S. Bernanke, said the problems appeared to be "contained." In early October, just two months after credit markets up, the stock market climbed to an all-time high. The optimists believe it is different this time. The catalyst for the change, they say, was the Fed-arranged deal that sold a troubled bank, Bear Stearns, to JPMorgan Chase in mid-March. The central bank further order in the markets by lending directly to investment banks, assuring that big firms could not be undone by a crisis of confidence.