There has been no shortage in comparisons of the current banking crises in the US and Europe to those of 2008. Just like in 2008, we have major bank executives appearing in the media to tell us all is well despite extreme volatility in their equity values. Another similarity: no one seems to be convinced by their pep talks.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama declared victory Friday after congressional negotiators reached a dawn agreement on a sweeping overhaul of rules overseeing Wall Street.

Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Detroit. She realizes that virtually all of her customers are unemployed alcoholics and, as such, can no longer afford to patronize her bar. To solve this problem, she comes up with a new marketing plan that allows her customers to drink now, but pay later.

Before Wall Street conned investors into thinking of calendar quarters as "short-term" and single years as "long-term", market cycles were used to test investment strategies. Performance analysis was a test of management style and overall methodology, not a calendar year horse race with one of the popular averages. Bor-ing, yes--- but meaningful.