On the near uselessness of financial news...

Sometimes the financial news and data are so useless and outdated, that after I read through them, the only thing that I could do is to laugh.

So, we know economy is very beaten down since the subprime mortgage mess started 1.5 years ago, with HSBC being the first and seems to be most forthcoming (yet low-profiled) in terms of writedowns. Every other guy, including the outgoing Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, professes to claim they know what's going on or they have a handle on things, are all pretty clueless, much like you and me. That much we know.

The five-day double-digit rally of Dow before Thanksgiving was an anomaly. Well, we the average folks also know that economy won't come back any time soon. Markets have their way of rise and fall, mostly trading too take short profits. And then there are those stocks and traders (or some such related parties) who get the inside scoop of news, taking profit within a day of rise-and-fall from news like Carl Icahn's buying more YHOO, essentially doubling down on the stock when he has lost a fair chuck on his initial $1.6 billion buying up YHOO, thereby pumping the stock from $10.20 to $11.50 before it buckles again today to the $10 range again. I have got tired of YHOO. So, on Friday, before the Icahn news, I sold at $10.50, essentially taking a 50% loss. Oh well, I'd rather have the liquidity (however reduced) for now, than to stick around for God-knows how long with YHOO.

The point, though, is that we know that extended five-day rally won't last, because it can't.

What got me laughing was the report from AP, after markets closed, that essentially says "yeah we are in recession because it's actually started (surprise!) in Dec 2007 (!?!?!?!?!)". I was thinking, WTF?!? AND THEN, all these *smart* financial reporters/analysts/news could try to have us believed that, they do know something, and that (surprise!) the five-day rally couldn't last...after the markets closed. I just couldn't stop laughing.

Mate, if you tell/report "news" 12 months too late, does it still have any news value? Do you even want to report about it, that the economists now FINALLY know and agree that we're in recession.

Oh, and the financial news. All these bozo who are simply trying to find a regiment of reasons from their stash, of why the markets rise or fall, AFTER the markets close. What good does that do to me?

...I think my kids do better predictions than these bozo...