Wednesday, March 11, 2009

U.S. Stocks Stage Stupidity Rally

It all started with Citigroup's leaked memo revealing its alleged profitability; that plus Treasury's latest ephemeral rescue plan have sparked a hope n' glory rally, chasing will o' the wisps:

U.S. stocks rallied, extending yesterday’s 6.4 percent surge in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as speculation grew the worst of the banking crisis may be over. Shares in Europe and Asia also advanced.


Come on, Mr. Market. You can't fool yourself forever. Not with news like this you can't:

Confidence in the world economy waned in March as the recession proved deeper than forecast and the U.S. mounted new rescues of financial institutions, a survey of Bloomberg users on six continents showed.

The Bloomberg Professional Global Confidence Index fell to 5.95 from 8.5 in February. A reading below 50 means pessimists outnumber optimists.


A lot of newly bullish suckers are going to get sucked into this rally as smarter people are covering their shorts. These newly optimistic investors will receive a rude awakening when Mr. Market realizes that the economy still sucks.

I''m staying short. That's all for now.