Fragile equity market reflects financial system worries

After several weeks of equity market gains that were welcome but had a feeling of speculation to them, there's an unwinding underway. As we move toward the anniversary of the Lehman collapse and the AIG nightmare, it's completely apparent that the credit markets have not returned to anything like what was once considered "normal". Putting the sub-prime mortgage madness aside, as an aberration, there is still something amiss in the credit markets. There is plenty of credit availiable for those who don't need it, and little for those who do, business and consumer alike. While liquid money markets are repaired from last year's debacle, they offer no yield because institutional buyers are still finding their way, staying conservative on all trades. Without vibrant and deep credit markets there will be an undertow on the equity markets and a nagging fear that what happened in the fall of 2008 can be revisited.