The economy is still nuts, and here is another example. Late last week, much to everyone's, surprise, some of the nation's biggest banks reported profits of all things. And how was this surprise good news greeted on Wall Street today? Financial stocks are getting hammered. The Dow is down 253 points at this writing.
Apparently, either bank executives have the credility of Fox News anchors or the stock market behaves like a four-year-old after heading a handful of Easter candy. I vote for both.
The news of the uptick in bank earnings ran so counter to the conventional wisdom that all weekend journalists and analysts have been bad mouthing the banks' reports. And one thing you can't do in this crazed time is to run counter to conventional wisdom.
In truth, some financial analysts are reporting that bank profits are coming their securities trading desks, a small isolated sector of their banking business and that those numbers might be legit. That sector is show small signs of life. It also appears that many bankers are trying to run as quickly as they can from federal financial assistance, even if they may need it further down the road. They had their fill of populist outrage in Congress. Would they jigger their financial reports to avoid a government bailout? This could get interesting.