Another day, another round of bad news from the brokers and the banks.

If the Aussie market follows the U.S. lead today, look out. Before we break for lunch here in Colorado, stocks in New York are taking a beating. The Dow Jones Industrials are down nearly 200 points. And it’s such a nice day out, too.

The base metals were mixed on Monday. Copper was off in the pre-dawn hours but rallied back during the New York session yesterday, to finish little changed at $3.6665/lb., down just over a tenth of a cent.

G. Kennedy Thompson, formerly Wachovia Corp.’s (WB) chief executive officer, can now be added to the list of high-profile subprime casualties that already includes Citigroup Inc.’s (C) Charles O. “Chuck” Prince III, The Bear Stearns Companies Inc.’s (BSC) Chief Executive Officer James E. “Jimmy” Cayne, and Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.’s (MER) E. Stanley “Stan” O’Neal.

Dan Amoss thinks he’s found the next culprit. And this isn’t just a gut feeling, there’s real evidence here. Is the worst behind us? Dan doesn’t thinks so.

A recent full page advertisement in the Financial Times caught my eye. “Ethics”, it screamed in bold print. And then went on to say, “When someone has achieved the CFA designation, make no mistake he, or she, is well aware of ethical responsibilities.

A recent full page advertisement in the Financial Times caught my eye. “Ethics”, it screamed in bold print. And then went on to say, “When someone has achieved the CFA designation, make no mistake he, or she, is well aware of ethical responsibilities.

The base metals took a severe beating on Thursday. Copper was down from the pre-dawn hours straight through the day, only coming off its lows near the noon hour and finishing at $3.497/lb., down 6 cents.

The amazing nine-week, 100-point rally we’ve seen in the S&P 500 is about to come to an end.

Are people starting to catch on that government economic statistics are widely manipulated? After my post last week broaching this possibility, I just wanted to briefly keep score.