Rational Markets, My Ass

Normally, I don't comment on market daily moves, there is too much noise there, but today's stock market rally, particularly in the morning, bears note, because much of it appears to have been driven by an April Fools gag.

Dedicated short fund manager Doug Kass, of Seabreeze Partners Short LP, put out an early morning, tongue-in-cheek commentary, titled Time to Buy the Bull? The long time Bearish market pundit and writer for The Street.com and Real Money announced that he was raising his year end price targets for the S&P500 to 1,666, which would reflect a yearly gain of 26%.

This was picked up by:

• The Wall Street Journal
• CNN Money
• CBS Marketwatch
• Barrons
• Bloomberg

Mr. Kass subsequently apologized, "I apologize to my partners, and to my friends, and especially to the SEC, for whom I have the greatest possible respect. I never intended markets to be manipulated in this manner. I was only trying to make some traders, who have been having a tough year, break a smile."

You gotta love Wall Street. I wish I had chosen it as my career. I would already have made my millions, gotten busted, done my 22 months at Club Fed, written a book about it, and now I'd have a 2 day a week job as a pundit on CNBC.

I already have a trophy wife though, so I can't complain.