O! Bama! Whither takest thou us? There are two broad theories concerning the great men of history. One says that history is made by great men. The other says great men are made by history. But here at The Daily Reckoning we think they’re both wrong. In our book, great men don’t really exist. They are merely invented by the historians. History needs heroes. Sometimes tragic heroes… sometimes comic… the historians take what they’ve got to work with and set them spinning. But if you look at their leading characters closely, they look little different from the rest of us… just fellow passengers on the big bus.

Here’s Merrill Lynch economist David Rosenberg on employment trends, the consumer and why we face a frugal future (hat tip Zero Hedge): This post-credit collapse/asset-bubble burst cycle remains an enigma, and we strongly believe that investors today who are buying stocks and selling bonds in anticipation of a sustained reflation trade are going to end up as disappointed as they were under similar conditions in 2002.

We made a brief trip back to France for a board meeting. Returning to London, people all seemed to be in mourning. Black is the color in London. Everyone wears black. Black pants, black skirts, black coats…

…the cabs are black…and so is the mood.

“How do you feel now?” asked a reporter for a local investment magazine. “I mean, you’re a contrarian…and you were right about so much?”

Gold did virtually nothing in Far East trading yesterday…but the moment that the Hong Kong market closed, a smallish rally began in London, that promptly got crushed on the Comex open…and that was it for the day. Estimated volume was a very light 59,914 contracts, with a switch effect of 7,968.

Pity the rich. Pity the CEOs. Pity the capitalists.

Hate thy neighbor? Giveth his children money; that will fix them all. Few things are as costly as free money.

The Great Red Hope. We’ll get to the commies in a just a moment. First, a question: what happened to Tuesday’s big rally?

The Dow roared back yesterday. It ended the day up 379 points. Gold fell $22 – to end the day below $900.

“Negative growth,” says newspapers.