HE DID IT AGAIN!

Most importantly, however, the Triplets turned six and had a birthday party that lasted three days; three kids, three days.  Makes sense.

What makes no sense is Mr. Bernanke who, despite sage advice from this quarter and others, simply can't stop running his mouth and just shut up.  He did it again yesterday explaining that the real Fed policy is to keep interest rates low until time eternal but to perhaps (or was it probably) scale back on QE III (or is it IV) by the end of this year.  Proving that easy money has always been the driver of this stock market it started up after-hours last night and finished up over 160 points today for a new world's record for the DOW.  Yea for everybody...except bond traders who got absolutely killed, FX traders who were properly long the dollar and got absolutely killed, places like Brazil who had to raise domestic rates (a reversal of form) in the face of lousy economic numbers, and Euro ministers of finance who watched the yield on their bonds rise thereby threatening to put a serious hurt in their budgets which, if anybody has missed it, are somewhat important in holding that entire mess together Over There.  It's not that Ben wants to create havoc, it's just that unlike Jim Baker ("the dollar is your problem") who grew up in the real world, Mr. Bernanke is simply doing what any good academic does which is to follow his own models right down the gurgle tube without a thought (or care) in the world as to how their applications might affect others be they correct or incorrect in the end.  Don't say I didn't tell you.  But after losing a billion or ten here and there, we now have clear guidance and the nano second traders can get back to screwing the little guy and we can stop worrying about fundamentals for at least six months.  It's so much more easy this way.

The Times this morning was all excited that it appears that the regulators Over Here and in the UK are about to agree as to who should be looking after whom in regard to American subs operating Over There and visa-versa.  That kind of left me wondering whether or not we had an agreement prior to the time the world came tumbling down and I distinctly remember having my bum hauled over to Threadneedle Street more than once to explain what was going on which means I guess we did: they watched us and we watched them and people used to talk to one another.  This is better I suppose because Great Minds have been working on this for years now.  No Dumbos like Paul Volker, Chet Feldberg Terri Checki or Brian Quinn to worry about.  Real Geniuses at work today.  I felt so much better after reading the article.

Another wonderful event of the past couple of days was the Euros agreeing on a joint set of rules by which the gazillion national banks Over There are to be governed along side the awful Basel III accords with one set of rules.  Flush with success, next came an agreement as to how failed banks were to be wound up,  and it passed unanimously...except for Germany who figured out early in the game that it was German money that would be used in this, God's Work.  Not on lads, the Volk would not stand for it, which of course makes the previous agreement pretty much useless.  While this was going on, Italy stopped functioning because Burlesconi told his guys to butt out of the legislating job, Spain was going no where but down, the Greeks...well...the were being Greek and the French were waiting for August so that they could do nothing at all.  The triplets, on the other hand, organized their own birthday parties quite well...then again, at six years of age they are a bit more mature.