Stocks were in rally mode today, in an attempt to dampen fear and encourage confidence. While they were most likely short term oversold, the 'rally' was all artifice, and had the feel of the kind of forced cheeriness in the big household during times of plague. And so the half-hearted rally faded into the close. The economic news this morning was rather poor. And yet there was happy talk being given out by the creatures of the financial sector, both in the States and the UK. There will be no sustainable rally based on fundamentals, and no general return to prosperity and growth, until the system is reformed. As Simon Johnson noted a few years ago, there has been a financial coup d'etat. We talk about these things like they are abstractions, almost stories, things that are happening to someone else. But it is real, and it is affecting your lives, and the real economy, every day. Have a pleasant evening.
