The weekend tv programs are dominated by the 24 hour news/talk cycle and the presentation of a continuum of evidence pointing to economic disaster. Job cuts, Big 3 survival, and whackage reports from 401K statements across the US are cutting confidence in asset values of all kinds. Nothing will work talk is increasingly being presented as a portrait of reality as the panic sets a new course. The market's value adjustments which initiated the anxiety, now reflect a lack of confidence produced in a large part by a incompetent government. The lead talking head, Paulson, is clearly not up to crafting a rescue plan beyond rewarding the incompetence of banks and insurance companies.
Victory over the current economic mess will be victory of attrition. Many will suffer and others will strive to recover the financial gains they lost over the last several years for the next ten years. But the equity markets have already begun to adjust to adaptive strategies and will regain footing well before the worst has hit the general public. Investment sores will recover and another absurd investment fad will appear.
