(By Jeffery A Miller) Here is a surprise for you. European leaders did better than your favorite pundit!
They will also do better in the future.
For the last two weeks the dollar has moved higher versus the Euro and stocks have moved lower -- almost an unbroken string.
The European story fit nicely with trader pre-conceptions about selling in May, following the pattern of the last two (count 'em!) years, and the lack of more QE.
Setting this up was a revival of the disaster scenario -- a 2008-style Lehman like event where banks would topple and the financial system would crumble. Everyone's favorite conspiracy website teed this up by multiple posts predicting a continent-wide bank run. The leading CNBC commentators are bombarded with email and tweets from traders. In the modern age, the tweeters influence the content.
The bank run story has gotten widespread play, with journalists all solemnly agreeing that a Greek exit from the Euro would be a disaster.
The traders and pundits see European leaders as clueless bozos who did not do what they thought was correct, and did not do it in the time frame they thought was right.
Let us put aside that many pundits sought austerity while many others advocated growth. They all agreed that leaders were wrong for ignoring their recommendations.
An Objective View
This is going to be difficult for most people, but try to be objective about the various parties in Europe. Here is the question:
Has delay and bargaining improved things? Let us start by considering it party by party.