all the data i’ve looked at, and all the commentary i’ve cooked in the big pot of consensus, seems to indicate that things are bottoming out. that means a lot of data — some of it up, some of it down, most of it sideways.

the market still has to price in the future costs of restructuring (e.g., energy, resources, retraining), of money (inflation), and of write offs (bad debt), so i’m thinking we’re now in a trading range that looks a lot like north dakota … flat on flat.

free markets are only bubble generators and bust creators, so the flat horizon will drive a lot of investors nutty. there will be ranting about the heavy hand of regulation and many relatively small speculative burps and bubbles in the margin. soy futures, anybody?