I hope you didn't fall prey to 'the news' again and buy Bear Stearns on the announcement that Jimmy Cayne was leaving. You hear that Starbucks people ! Now in the case of Bear, where you sell an intrinsic product, your reputation is paramount. And in this case it is toast, kaput, you would be better of starting from scratch. Can you say E.F. Hutton or Drexel Burnham Lambert, of course you cannot and for good reason.

I hope Mr. Joe Lewis, who again is a brilliant investor with very deep pockets, does not let Bear become his Waterloo. We are all human. Hopefully he has counsel that is not full of yes men and deal men. Mr. Lewis sell and sell it all immediately and don't look back.

Countrywide denies bankruptcy rumors. As my friend in politics has told me, when you're explaining you're losing. This is going bankrupt and their denial is the kiss of death. Just like a professional sports team coach or manager when the owner comes out to publicly announce your job security, you had better call the headhunter ASAP !

These market bounces like yesterday and early today are nothing but dead cat bounces. I advise you to get prepared for the institutional selling. It has started and when it picks up steam you had better be out of the way. For a case study punch up the chart of any tech stock for the tech bubble. Or better yet, punch up a chart of Countrywide, that former institutional darling. Many of us out in cyberland has been warning you. Govern yourself accordingly.



Today David Rosenberg who was North American economist at my old firm before moving over to Merrill thinks we're already in recession which as regular readers know is a fact I fully support.

I saw a piece recently on the labour and jobs numbers from last week. They said that base on the governments birth/death adjustment the finance sector created 17,000 jobs. Read that again and think about it. do they really expect us to lap up this propaganda as gospel. I was born at night, just not last night !