financial environment

Here is a recap of the top news items from this week on Wall Street: 1. Numerous mixed economic data points gave investors an inconsistent view of the current financial environment this week.

To start the week, pending home sales for the month of February came in much better than expected: up 8.2% vs. the consensus of flat.

Also ISM non-manufacturing data showed a rise to 55.4. In the retail sector, same store sales for last month rose the most in nearly a decade.

We are living in the most reckless financial environment in recent history. Arcane credit derivative bets are now well into the tens of trillions. According to Charles R. Morris, the astronomical leverage at investment banks and their hedge fund and private equity clients virtually guarantees massive disruption in global markets. The crash, when it comes, will have no firebreaks. A quarter century of free-market zealotry that extolled asset stripping, abusive lending, and hedge fund secrecy will come crashing down with it.