The picture may not do the point service, but on Friday, the headline read “A Low-Risk Investment in a High-Risk Lender” and today the stock is down more than 10% as the reality of lending to high risk individuals started to hit home for this pay-day lender.

This “reality” is starting to sink in across the markets, and although this validates some of the hypotheses discussed here, it makes me even more concerned for the short term future of the economy.

I remain optimistic that the creative spirit embodied in the growing number of internet based start-ups and tools will help the U.S. continue to lead the world in innovation (well, besides the Wii and all of these dope international Web 2.0 start-ups). Although the days where people are able to write such blatantly contradictory stories such as the one posted above are coming to an end. Perhaps this is a good thing, but sometimes reality bites.