Please return to your seats...

I do seem to be obsessed with the word "Optimism".  The O word took a battering yesterday in this article by Wolfgang Munchau in the FT.  It is a fine read.  In the past few weeks, the market and the world economies have been mucking about, getting a bit less dramatic about themselves and settling into something a bit boring or inflicting the dreaded green shoot visionary thing on us.  In the press.  In the background, outside of the media, the data has been droning on in a deep bass note.  Think of the media, the markets, and the data entanglement like a little symphony.  Here is what it has been like over the past few weeks.  Cymbal crash.  The piccolos did a little solo.  Then, the music-to-snooze-by movement by was played by a few violas.  The clarinets joined to create a pleasant lull.  A few more pips.  Backstage, the bassoonist was doing his own sad thing.  A few of his mates played double-bass alongside.  The conductor realized they had not been accounted for, and looked behind the curtain.  There they were.  An intermission was called.

"The second half will begin in ten minutes..." announced a crisp voice over the static intercom...