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From market curmudgeon Bill King, who tells it like it is:

"Ironically, or rather idiotically, traders poured into stocks on Blankfein’s assertion that Goldie is doing well because Goldie is short mortgage-backed securities and CDOs. Blankfein believes the financial situation will worsen: “…many institutions don’t understand what the credit crunch is going to do to earnings and their balance sheets.”

So what we have is a huge rally because Goldie will profit from the US economy and financial system going to hell.  And people pay fortunes to go to Ivy League schools and B-schools to learn how to play the new economy!?!?!  Apparently a critical mass of traders believes that not only what is good for Goldman is good for America but as long as Goldman profits everything else is immaterial…

Wal-Mart admits that customer visits declined in Q3; but food sales increased 5.3% and pharmacy sales jumped 7.9%.  Thank God for food & drug inflation that is not recorded in official inflation!

Recession, inflation, dollar collapse, financial system implosion – no problemo, Goldie is making money so pour into stocks!  And let’s be merry and jiggy now because Wal-Mart is booking Christmas sales weeks before Thanksgiving and food inflation is virulent enough to significantly boost revenue!"

Thanks, Bill . . .