First-quarter earnings reports for the big banks weren’t bad on the surface. But banks had to pull some rabbits out of the hat to do it. For example, Goldman Sachs skipped December in order to post improved numbers.

Right. I have some news. But it’s special news, which calls for a special kind of mood — Cautious Optimism.

“It’s one of those days where nothing much seems to be happening,” I said as I sat down at our morning meeting. Boy was I wrong!