Why Is It Always About the Banks? --Today's Outrage

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Why does it always have to be about the banks?

Today we see encouraging earnings reports from two American icons of industry -- Coca-Cola (KO)and Harley-Davidson (HOG) -- and all anyone wants to talk about are earnings reports from Goldman Sachs (GS) and Bank of America (BAC).

Yes, I know this is only the second quarterly loss in Goldman's history as a publicly traded stock and that one-off actions helped propel Bank of America to quarterly profit of more than $6 billion.

But can't we get over the banks long enough to find a little bit of economic optimism in the fact that people around the world are drinking more Coke products? Isn't it worth noting that Coca-Cola posted an increase in third-quarter earnings to $2.22 billion from $2.06 billion the year before?

Does it mean nothing that Harley-Davidson profit just about doubled and Americans buying hogs outpaced global demand, with a 5.6% gain in domestic sales vs a 5.1% increase in global sales.

Despite these glimmers of good news, the markets are dropping again today and the headlines are all about the banks. No wonder the Occupy Wall Street movement seems to have staying power. We are all obsessed with banks in this country.

It's sad that we can't seem to appreciate that U.S. companies making real products for real people are seeing real growth.

We've got a party going on among Coke-drinking, Harley-riding Americans and we're letting the banks bring everybody down.

--Written by Glenn Hall in New York. For more Outrage, check out the Today's Outrage blog or follow me on Twitter @GlennHall

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