The Sarcasm Report v.185

Click to enlarge.

The blue line shows the annual average of the St. Louis Fed Financial Stress Index and the Kansas City Financial Stress Index.

The red line shows the negative of the annual average of the real S&P 500 Index (December 2013 dollars).

1. The key to maintaining the stock market's currently lofty level is to keep the financial stress at a near record low. That's right. Keep it there permanently. Just say no to stress.

2. The key to maintaining the financial stress at a near record low is to keep the stock market at its currently lofty level. That's right. Keep it there permanently. Just say no to stress.

What could possibly go wrong with this circular reasoning strategy? As seen in the chart, there hasn't been this little financial stress in the system since the top of the housing bubble in the mid 2000s! Oh, what a carefree time that was!

I am very optimistic about our long-term future!! ZIRP! Employment growth! Real GDP growth! Real median household income growth! Uncharted territory growth! You name it! It's going to be an adventure.

February 11, 2014
ASX bets on derivatives clearing

"We don't even celebrate trillions any more," the Englishman recently elevated to the top job of global clearing house LCH Clearnet, told The Australian on a recent visit to Sydney.

It's not quite so flippant a comment as it might seem. The arcane world of over-the-counter derivatives such as interest rate swaps that Davie inhabits turns over $600 trillion of notional value a year, so a trillion is not far off being a rounding error.

This concludes the sarcasm report.

Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart