Once again, stocks failed to recoup the day's losses with that closing-hour stampede of short covering that has become a tradition on the NYSE. We've grown so accustomed to the Daily Goosing ourselves that when it fails to occur, as was the case in the last two days, we start to worry that something is amiss. But what? Why would Wall Street bulls have any doubts about taking the plunge, given the spin-control lollapalooza that has been orchestrated so beautifully over these last couple of months by the central banks? Most recently, we saw Citigroup call for a $100 billion interbank fund to shore up the market for so-called SIV's, or structured investment vehicles. Have investors become so fretful that they are now questioning whether this sum will be adequate? Granted, the notional value of financial derivatives on the world's books is headed toward the $600 trillion mark. But it's not as though it's all going to get marked to market one day, right? Or will it? We can't help thinking not only that it will happen and that it is inevitable, but that the supposed collateral will be found seriously wanting by lenders turned discerning with a vengeance. In the meantime, with the central banks' PR offensive revved to the max, it's a wonder that the stock market would ever suffer a down day. Yesterday, for instance. Treasury Secretary Paulson, speaking at Georgetown Law School, was so winningly earnest in acknowledging housing-sector troubles that the Wall Street Journal used the word 'sobering' to describe the speech. "The ongoing housing correction is not ending as quickly as it might have appeared late last year," said Paulson, "and it now looks like it will continue to adversely impact our economy, our capital markets, and many homeowners for some time yet." Why So
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