The Bernanke train

Today's trading day marked a lot of firsts.
For the first time in a few months, the correlation between the Treasury bond markets and stocks broke down.
Treasury bonds sold off in a huge one-day move as if playing catch up to the fact that the S&P stock index is approaching the 1,400 level.
The refrain "Do not fight the Fed, you will get run over" is well-known to Wall Street players.
Players have learned to hitch their wagons to the Bernanke train.
Players are finally beginning to acknowledge that the conditions in the U.S. economy are much better compared to Europe's dismal state of affairs.
Similarly, gold prices continue to decline consistent with this letter's views, closing more than 3% lower under $1,650 an ounce.
The market for gold is a relatively thin market with limited liquidity compared to currencies or Treasury bonds; it is relatively easy to manipulate.
The U.S. dollar rallied against all other currencies, closing at 1.3 against the Euro.
Whether underlying macroeconomic fundamentals improve or deteriorate, the U.S. dollar will rally.
Demand for the dollar is not going away anytime soon; the U.S. dollar remains the world's reserve currency of choice.
The market was abuzz about an editorial penned to the New York Times by a former employee of Goldman Sachs.
More questions were raised than answered by the editorial.
Where was this upstanding former Goldman employee 4 years when he was getting paid outsized bonuses?
Why did it take him 12 years to figure out that the goal of Wall Street firms was to turn a profit?
It sounds like a case of sour grapes; the former employee of Goldman Sachs was probably disgruntled about getting passed up for a promotion.
If the former ping-pong star is sincere, I have a bank account number where he can help out the world's needy children.
Republican Presidential front-runner Mitt Romney was in Manhattan fundraising at the Waldorf Astoria hotel.
For better or for worse, Wall Street remains a big source of campaign contributions for politicians across all aisles of the political spectrum.
British Prime Minister David Cameron is visiting Washington, DC, to meet with President Obama.
One hopes that the beleaguered people of Syria are on their agenda.
Sending Kofi Annan to reason with Assad was a bad idea.
Sending Teddy Ruxpin might have achieved better results; rumor has it that Assad has a very cuddly personality.
Or maybe Assad could have been invited to Fraggle Rock for peace negotiations over pink lemonade.
Short of arming Syria's rebels with anti-tank weapons, any other half-measure is a de facto license for Assad to kill his own people.
And folks wonder why oil prices remain so elevated…
Empire (New York) manufacturing and initial jobless claims numbers are out on Thursday.