The US bond markets were closed today for Columbus Day, but the equity markets and futures were open for trade. The bond traders tend to be the adults, and the equity markets the domain of the kids. So the adults had the day off by and large.
A light day with a theme of weakness based on concerns for the start of earning season and the unfolding tragedy that is Europe, and the western financial system in general.
So what next. We have to wait and see which way things break in the short term. It is just that simple.
Based on the printing of money the path of least resistance is higher, but the macroeconomic reports present a bit of a headwind, and the shakiness of the global governance by the financiers gives the wobbles to asset values.
Mom and pop are largely sitting this bubble in stocks out. Of course gold and silver are still a long term hold. One cannot tell if it is wisdom for the smaller spec to shun the equities, or just empty pockets that make it so.
Wells Fargo and JPM report earnings on Friday. The financials are probably the locus of this particular asset bubble. Well those jokers, and of course, AAPL. The banks make AAPL or even Facebook look like blue chip electric utilities, substance-wise.
But Bennie has their backs, and everyone else has been encouraged to look the other way, so they may do well. There is a meme that says that if the banks failed in the 1930's, the way to prevent another Depression is to keep them from failing this time by stuffing them, or at least a favored few, with money, the public outrage notwithstanding.
That is what is commonly known as the 'cargo cult economics' subcategory of the neo-liberal school, and makes efficient market theory look like the theory of relativity. At least they are not outright liquidationists, which is the 'intellectual enema' subcategory of the human sacrifice school of economic thought.
That is how things stand in a thumbnail view: nuttier than usual, but nothing we have not already overcome in the past. Leadership and attitude make all the difference. And we are poorly led, and short sighted greed prevails.
