Comic Relief

Once again comedy provides the best synopsis of current conditions. The Onion has long had a tradition of cutting through the noise by bellowing it yet louder.

At the moment there seems to be almost total correlation amongst asset classes. In a "don't just sit there, buy something!" mood if you buy anything you buy everything. There seems to be no fundamental reason other than releveraging, and as I look at my screen I see bonds up, stocks up, gold up, real estate up, commodities up. It has the feel of a sugar high before a crash. I learned long ago, when it makes no sense, step back. The quantitative methodology of investments has come unglued. My only conclusion is that policy and a Black American Express card with Timothy Geithner's name on it trumps all else. As my wife used to say when the boys were particularly filthy and happy, "all fun ends in tears." I am getting a bad feeling about this market.

John Barnyak
President
www.stonehouseasset.com