Dear WSJ: Missing a Step?

The Wall Street Journal came out with this article this morning on Bank of America's successes from its real estate investments.  Note that the article nowhere mentions the SEC's expanding investigation of BofA (The article also refers to Deutsche Bank's revenues without mentioning its exposure to Dubai's unfolding defaults,  but that would be asking for just too much, wouldn't it.).  You think that cooking books and pumping offerings might have some effect on posted earnings?  Apparently the Journal doesn't; BofA's revenues are just from great management.  So, do you think the Journal is an information source, or just a cheerleader?

How 'Bout That Recovery

I'm not one of those people trying to gain fame and fortune from constantly preaching doom and gloom.  I wish we were pulling out of The Great Recession, and I believe that the stimulus is a good idea and that we need more (Regardless of the big headline this morning in which AP trumpeted that its analysis shows the stimulus hasn't done anything.  An analysis AP has yet to release, giving us only selected quotes from the economists AP selected to review the analysis.  What's with that?).  That said, I'm not seeing evidence that we're pulling out or that we will any time soon.

Today's case in point: Kiddie Kandids, the ubiquitous mall store for children's photos.  Not so ubiquitous now.  Employees got word last night that the stores weren't opening this morning and the company is diving into Chapter 7.  The company has set up a blog to provide updates, but all it currently amounts to is a press release, and it doesn't take feedback.

Another hole in the mall.  Actually, a couple hundred malls.  More dark retail space, more jobs lost, more bad loans, more of less.  The mere fact that a few thousand people are making a mint on Wall Street doesn't mean this economy has leaped from its sick bed and entered the decathlon.  Regardless what the pundits are saying, most people are in pain, and if the pain is reducing, it's only because people are going numb.

You Have to Call Things What They Are

I try to be a decent person, at least as far as my profession allows me (Don't be fooled by distraction noise from bar associations about "civility guidelines." That has no bearing on how Biglaw attorneys will treat mere mortal laity and even less bearing on how they treat lesser attorneys such as Yours Truly.), but ultimately things should be called what they are. The economic commentary site www.marketoracle.co.uk is a sack of Randonazi and Deep Libertarian nutbars, and as is SOP with folks of such persuasion, they are mind-numbingly hypocritical, espousing free speech while crushing it at every turn. I have posted several comments taking issue with some of their more absurd, tin-foil beanie commentators (cough, Gary North, cough, Nadeem Walayat, cough), often agreeing with another commentator on the site (e.g. my comment on Walayat's posting on Iceland's rejection of the Icesave agreement, in which I agreed with Mike Shedlock's posting, which was 180 degrees from Walayat's), and none of them have been approved. As in NONE. Nada. Zip. Gar nichts.

Well I'm sorry, but that's just crap. And so is Market Orifice.