Stocks are in the red today after new data did little to bolster investors’ spirits that the economy is slowly getting better.

At 2:51 pm ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) is down 1.43%, while the Dow is down 1.10% and the S&P 500 is down 1.44%.

Today the Labor Department said consumer prices in April were flat, as economists predicted, while New York-area manufacturing activity and industrial production contracted less than economists expected. Investors remain cautious ahead of several reports out next week on housing.

Small caps bucking the decline today include BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:BCRX), up 30% after reporting encouraging results from its Phase II lymphoma trial, and Fuqi International (Nasdaq:FUQI), 20% higher following strong first-quarter results.

******You know over the course of the past few months I’ve not held Wall Street or the banking executives in high regard. I hold them almost — that’s almost — singularly accountable for our current recession (Uncle Sam and private citizens who borrowed too much are to blame as well), but the government is beginning to really stick its nose too far. For example, today’s headlines (those not about whether Nancy Pelosi knew about torture and when she knew it) are consumed with government pushing itself on private industry, most notably with the pressure on Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) to change its board.

Granted, “regime change” is a necessity for most of the companies receiving TARP money. After all, they’re the ones who got us into this mess. But shouldn’t it be shareholders forcing the issue? You saw how they forced Ken Lewis of Bank of America to give up his role as chairman. This was done at the shareholder level, not by some bureaucrats in a windowless office overlooking the National Mall.

But for many Beltway insiders this isn’t enough. Someone’s got . . .

For access to the full article, you must be a registered member - it's FREE.