All evidence suggests recovery is far from normal

David Rosenberg, The Globe and mail
What passes as normal? Well, today, that is an interesting question.

Just reading the newspapers from the past few days, does “More Workers Face Pay Cuts, Not Furloughs” from The New York Times get you all hot and heavy over a new cyclical bull market? How about “Tech Gadgets Steal Sales From Appliances, Clothing” from the Wall Street Journal – hey, who cares if the spin cycle on the washer-dryer don’t work no more, I got me an iPad! Amazing.

Meanwhile, there is excitement in the air over the view that all we have on our hands is a pause that refreshes. More interesting, however, is how the bond market just isn’t buying it. Why should it when MasterCard processed transactions are flat from where they were a year ago?

Nothing we are seeing in this post-bubble credit collapse is normal. (more)