Can You Top This, Mr. President?

According to the complaint, the accused, Mark Charles Barnett, 48, of Ocala, Fla., "theorized the company's stock value would plunge after the explosions, allowing him to cheaply acquire shares of Target stock before an eventual rebound." The benevolent nature of bull markets in equities, particularly financial stocks, and corporate debt-accompanied by a decline in the VIX (the index of options premiums on the S&P 500)-can be engendered by a fall in real (inflation-adjusted) interest rates, note Bank of America Merrill Lynch rates analysts Shyam S. Rajan and Carol Zhang.