Smarts of the Street are Dumber than the Dumbest of the Dumbs

Today, my friend Bill Zimmer of prudenttrader.com asked an interesting question in a letter to his subscribers.

Have you been keeping tab of how they rain praise on Wall Street CEOs? calling them smart? What's so smart about them? Other than the fact that they managed to book for themselves lavish life styles and bank accounts on behalf of the shareholders of their companies, they have proved themselves as big destroyers of wealth as Joseph Straus of JDS Uniphase, and John Roth of Nortel Networks. Remember those two clowns? I mean, visionaries?

OK, I have to admit Wall Street CEOs are smarter than their shareholders. At least they exercised and sold as much of the shares as they could.

Real smarts here have been shown only, and I emphaize, only by the Ben-Hankee team. That nickname I have for that team is no indication of disrespect. It is more from awe and admiration.

Whatever your views, or mine, on the ongoing stream of interventions, or late night weekend decisions, they have constantly drawn magic rabbits out of their hats. Throwing such beautiful changeups Tommy Glavine could only dream of throwing. OK, maybe Glavine can throw as good, he's my all time favorite, after all, but most of those Armani clad arses of Wall Street could definitely not.

If CNBC anchors think these bozos are smart, what does that tell the world about the itelligence of CNBC people?

A look at the balance sheet of any house on Wall Street would tell you that the operation could have easily been operated by anyone, anywhere, any time, and as disatrously, regardless of education, background, or age.

I am just worried that the Ben-Hankee team is running out of rabbits. I am worried that by letting Lehman die the well-deserved death, the process of debt deflation is now getting out of control -- out of control of hat-borne rabbits, that is.

If that is the case, would it not have been smarter to let Bear Stearns die the well-deserved death. At the very least, we would been months closer to the conclusion of this.