And the sucker rally fizzles

I said yesterday that he sucker rally would last 48 hours. I was off by 24 hours. The joys of Benny B's magic ruby slippers has worn off. So has the idea that somehow BofA buying Countrywide will somehow bring back the housing market from the dead. Although once again to both BofA and CFC I send out the most gracious thank you for the close to 400% return on my CFC calls. A lovely thank you card should be arriving shortly.

Consumer confidence is the worst number since they started keeping track of it. In December it was at 66, today it came out at 56. Holy freaking plunge in consumer confidence Batman. And when consumers aren't confident, they don't spend. And when they don't spend, companies don't make any money. And when that happens stock markets go wayyyy wayyyy down. Which is what I have been trying to tell anyone I can over the last year. Unfortunately I am a lone voice in the woods drowned out by the so-called experts on CNBC who tell you all is well, DOW 100,000 any day now.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention, Merrill Lynch revealed another gajillion dollar loss in - wait for it - mortgages. Well OK only $15 BILLION but even so that ain't exactly chump change. Shocking I know. Who could have ever predicted that? CNBC will have 3 experts on this morning with blank stares on their faces saying "we're just as surprised as you, and that is why he had a STRONG BUY on Merrill. Sorry 401k holders. Sorry pension funds. You lost a year's worth of salary based on our expert recommendation. Too bad, we still got our$15M bonus for 2007, so go fuck yourself".

And buffoons like Kudlow wonder why the populist Mike Huckabee and rabid socialist Barack Obama are so popular. If these assholes don't quit this and quit it soon, some serious changes are coming and not for the good either. We will see more regulation, more taxation and more government intervention.

So please Wall St, get your shit together.