Morning Report - Eric Holder doesn't think the crisis was all Wall Street's fault

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1894.9	2.1	0.11%
Eurostoxx Index	3212.1	5.1	0.16%
Oil (WTI)	101.3	0.7	0.72%
LIBOR	0.224	-0.001	-0.56%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	80.02	0.117	0.15%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	2.63%	-0.03%
Current Coupon Ginnie Mae TBA	106	0.0
Current Coupon Fannie Mae TBA	104.8	0.1
BankRate 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage	4.25

Stocks are flattish after a dismal retail sales report for April. Bonds and MBS are rallying on the number.

Retail sales came in at +.1% vs a Street expectation of .4%. Ex-autos and gas, retail sales dropped. March was revised higher, however so the news isn't all bad. Looks like we had a weather-related rebound in March and sales went right back to their old ways. 

Import Prices fell in April, not that the Fed is worried about high inflation or anything. Emerging market economies are slowing down, and they tend to try and export their way out of problems. 

Small business optimism increased in April, according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses. This is the first time the index reached 95 since October 2007. Firms added an average .07 workers in April, weaker than March, but it still continues the 7-month string of increasing hires. 57% of firms increased capital expenditures. Credit availability is not an issue. 

Is Eric Holder about to finally wind up his punishment of the banks? Interesting quote from Holder: "I am impatient," Mr. Holder said in an interview. "We're talking about conduct that contributed to the greatest financial disaster since the Great Depression. Not the sole cause, but contributed to it, so this is a priority, and that's why I'm dedicating so much time to it."

"Not the sole cause, but contributed to it." Has anyone heard any other explanations of what caused the housing bubble and the crisis from the left? The Fed? Nope. The dual mandate? Nope. Housing subsidies? Nope. Affordable Housing Targets? Nope. I would love to hear someone from this administration elucidate some of the other reasons for the crisis, because all I hear is "The Wall Street Sharpies did it." Of course the the other causes (the dual mandate, do-gooder social engineering gussied up as housing policy) are policies near and dear to the hearts of the left. In fact lack of affordable housing targets are the reason why GSE reform is going nowhere - because the left wants mandates, not just incentives. Proving once again that nobody learned a damn thing from the crisis and that it was explained and prosecuted entirely on ideological lines. Phil Angeledis' Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission report was a sham that should have been signed Epstein's mother.