While my morning macro research process entails going through private equity deals and/or deals being speculated upon, the proverbial well on this front has been running cyclically dry as of late. In order to fill the void, investment banks and asset managers have been friendly enough to replenish my notebook.

The problem is, of course, that these data points continue to be alarming. Consider the top 2 from this morning's news run:

1. UBS and Swiss bankers being issued a "John Doe Summons" in order to unearth Americans with "secret" banking accounts (i.e. Tax Fraud)??

2. Legg Mason "entering agreements to protect 3 money market funds"??

Without wasting any more keystrokes, I think you can come to your own conclusions on how dire the state of affairs has become in this country.

KM