Bernie off to jail.
Citigroup off the mat.
The markets just off to the races.
And you'd probably be off your rocker assuming the world has turned here.
But definitely an unusual confluence of events here.
So unusual. And so breathtaking, you gotta sit back and just say:
Wow.
Here's the deal:
It's about closure.
Every great period of excess has its moment of closure.
Bankers going to jail after the roaring 1920s.
Ivan Boesky following suit after the roaring 1980s.
Enron's Jeff Skilling and Tyco's Dennis Kozlowski after the roaring 2000s.
And now Bernie Madoff after...well, after all this.
Booms that turned to busts.
Then their poster children were busted.
In Bernie's case...150 years.
That's what he's likely facing for reportedly pleading guilty to 11 counts of bad stuff.
Lying, embezzling, fooling, swindling.
You name it. Bernie's looking at a lot of years in the big house because of it.
Little comfort to the many he swindled.
Big comfort to those wanting damn sure to see he suffered.
All on a day we saw the messy era he represented, maybe...maybe...coming to a close?
Hard to say.
This much we can say...Because the head of Citigroup said it.
Things are looking up.
The bank's making money.
And Ben Bernanke says the economy's making progress.
So much progress that a-t-and-t is making plans...to hire up to 3,000 workers this year.
Mere pebbles in a pond, maybe.
But no doubting Wall Street’s delight, most definitely.
The Dow up nearly 380 points.
Not because we're pouncing on a new era.
But maybe because we're tying a ribbon on an old one.
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Not All Signs Point to Depression
