One year ago Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said “the financial markets are better than regulators at allocating credit”. Little did he know we were headed for a major financial scare and they would step in. Clearly even the regulators were unaware of the magnitude of the problem.  A year later Wall Street is in disarray and credit problems have spread beyond the US to Europe and other economies. Last August home foreclosures began rising and fear and panic were building.  Looking back we see a government bail out of a major brokerage firm, bank balance sheets decimated by massive write-offs of mortgage related assets and a stock market that is down 11.5%. During this year Iran and Israel threatened conflict and Russia invaded Georgia.  All of this happened as oil prices climbed and fears of inflation and a global slow-down made headlines.  Who feels like celebrating?  It’s no wonder the[more…]