Stocks got carried away about the recovery.

That at least is one interpretation of two curious market moves so far this earnings season. Intel Corp. blew away expectations Thursday. Ditto for JPMorgan Chase & Co. the next day.

And how did investors show their gratitude? They sold stocks by the bucketful. Intel was off 3 percent on Friday, and JPMorgan down 2 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average fell almost 101 points.

“The market may have gotten ahead of the underlying economy,” says CreditSights analyst David Hendler, by way of explanation. JPMorgan’s report showed that “loan demand is still contracting,” which means a full recovery is still a ways off.

The weak outlook may have caught Wall Streeters by surprise, but here’s the bigger shocker: that they were surprised at all.

Source/Full Story: msnbc.com

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