The Bear-Faced Truth

Here's another way to look at the data issue. I am completely willing to admit that the data are mixed. Some numbers disappoint. We had some not-so-hot jobless claims numbers last week. I wasn't crazy about new home sales, even though existing home sales were terrific. Orders for SPW were terrible, as was the chatter out of computer maker ACER. I don't like all of the balance sheets of the banks after the numbers we just saw. They should be improving faster. Ford (F - commentary - Trade Now) puts too much emphasis on Cash for Clunkers for its terrific quarter. I was hoping it would be more positive about innate organic demand.

But you know what? I am willing to admit that things are mixed. I am willing to admit that things have stabilized, albeit at lower levels. I cede the turf that says all is rosy. In fact, I am apoplectic about the lack of jobs created and believe that we could really be hurt by employment or its lack thereof.

But the bears never cede everything. Every piece of data is awful. Every housing number is a step down. Every car sale number is disappointing. Anything that is good like the GDP number is explained away as rearview mirror, even as when the good rearview news was happening, they didn't see any good news at all.

Oh, and heaven forbid you are positive about anything, like the rebuild of capital at Ford or the fixed balance sheets of Capital One (COF - commentary - Trade Now) and PNC (PNC - commentary - Trade Now), or the turn in orders at 3M (MMM - commentary - Trade Now) or United Tech (UTX - commentary - Trade Now) or BHP Billiton (BHP - commentary - Trade Now) and Freeport (FCX - commentary - Trade Now) -- with a returned dividend to boot. You are ridiculed for not seeing the burning forest through the saplings. Plus, every tick down is the beginning of the big kahuna because of the pending collapse of Citigroup (C - commentary - Trade Now) or the crash of CIT (CIT - commentary - Trade Now).

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