Random Observations (CNBC and Seidman)

Today I got a chance to watch a little more of CNBC and other financial news shows and noticed a few things. First, there is a growing chorus about whether or not we have reached a bottom in the financial companies, and the market in general. There is a lot of talk about how "just think, if you had bought Fannie or Feddie or JPM or LEH last week, you would be up x%." It is common to do "what if" scenarios, but the coverage seems to be a little more intense today.

There was also a comment today on CNBC from Bill Seidman that was interesting. When asked about the recent actions of the Treasury Secretary, he mention that while current moves could positively affect the market near-term, even over the next year, the proposed actions are a longer-term disaster. He gave the analogy of how Secretary Paulson was running the Treasury like he ran Goldman Sachs, making sure he makes his numbers next year. Great stuff. While not mentioned by Seidman, you might also be able to make the same argument regarding the Fed, which seems to be managing quarterly GDP numbers and not focusing on controlling inflation and supporting the dollar for fear of occasional lower growth.