This is a few days old, but since it made me smile when I saw it, I believe that it warrants a post.

He makes a good point (FP blog):

How could investors possibly be surprised that the U.S. economy is in recession? This is animal spirits in action, folks:

Investors were in full retreat yesterday, sending stocks tumbling after a panel of economists confirmed that the country has been in a recession for about a year.

The markets traded in negative territory all day as investors sold off shares to lock in profits after last week’s rally. But the losses accelerated after the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonprofit group, said a recession began in December 2007.

This applies to markets worldwide, of course. We’ve known for quite a while now that things are horrible out there. And yet the markets are extremely volatile. A big bounce up or down does seem a bit crazy. Then again, these are the same people who got us into the mess we’re in in the first place.