The continuing stages of financial collapse and the denial that goes along with it

they're trying desperately to make it look like things are under control but they sure as hell aren't... even the stock market rally looks to me like grasping at straws...

a few of the latest stories, all of them no less than stunning, none of them comforting...

first this...

S.E.C. Temporarily Blocks Short Sales of Financial Stocks

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday issued a temporary ban on short sales of 799 financial stocks, a move against traders who have sought to profit from the financial crisis by betting against bank shares.

The temporary ban, intended to bring calm to the markets, follows similar action by Britain on Thursday.

The S.E.C. said the “temporary emergency action” would “protect the integrity and quality of the securities market and strengthen investor confidence.”

The commission said it was also considering measures to address short selling in other publicly traded companies.

then this...

Treasury to Guarantee Money Market Funds

The federal government took two actions on Friday to shore up money market funds, which have long been considered as safe and risk-free as a bank savings account, but which have come under stress in the current market turmoil.

The Federal Reserve said that it would expand its emergency lending program to help support the $2 trillion in assets of the funds.

And the Treasury Department said that it would guarantee, at least temporarily, money market funds up to an amount of $50 billion in order to ensure their solvency.

“For the next year, the U.S. Treasury will insure the holdings of any publicly offered eligible money market mutual fund — both retail and institutional — that pays a fee to participate in the program,” the Treasury said in a statement.

The department said concerns about the value of money market funds falling below the standard net asset value of $1 — or “breaking the buck” — had heightened the financial turmoil and caused severe liquidity strains in world markets.

followed in short order by this...

Stocks Surge as U.S. Acts to Shore Up Money Funds and Limits Short Selling

Stocks shot wildly upward Friday morning after the federal government moved to try and restore confidence in the financial markets.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up more than 400 points only moments after the opening. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 was up 4 percent. Markets in Europe and Asia also traded higher.

our fearless leaders know that there are gazillions of people out there who simply MUST, for their own sanity, find a way to continue to believe in our utterly failed financial system and will hang on to their denial until the last thread is ripped away by the sheer force of reality... i can't say as i blame them... when your entire worldview and belief system is based on power, money and the power of money, letting go of those beliefs is going to be at least as hard as kicking a long-standing drug addiction and, in fact, probably considerably harder...

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