MAIN STREET HAS NO CONFIDENCE IN THE MARKETS. “Main Street is ignoring the market’s rapid rise, no matter how much money the pros are making. Rather than investing in the much-hyped Obama recovery, small investors are giving it a big, fat thumbs down. . . . What’s happening with stock mutual funds says Main Street thinks that the economy stinks and that it ain’t getting better.”

UPDATE: A hedge-fund reader emails: “Professional financial market activity is also way down these days. The drop in volumes is damning. The Fed’s financial repression – forcing market yields below inflation – is one reason. The tsunami of administration diktats is another. And the Chinese-style theft of customer account capital by John Corzine and JP Morgan is the last nail in the coffin. The economics of investing make little sense, and even if you can thread the needle of profitability, you risk having your property seized by regime buddies. Why do anything with your money but stash it under the mattress, or try to get it offshore?”