Yesterday, the stock market was ugly, the worst loss since last November, but the question is whether it reflected the U.S. economy or simply the sheer weight of news. For example, so far this week, we've learned that:
China's growth rate has dropped to "only" 7.5%, ignoring their announcement that they plan to target future growth among consumers instead of of export.
All of Greece's lenders have not yet agreed in writing to the new bailout deal and the deadline is this Thursday, but did anybody expect this deal would close without drama?
Brazil announced their GDP growth rate had dropped to 2.5%, ignoring their comments that there were some temporary weather-related factors contributing to this temporary drop.
Home foreclosures in January surged 28% as the wave of foreclosures delayed by the "robo-signing" crisis began to hit courthouses across the country.
The European Commission forecast a recession in Europe this year, forgetting they are already in one and ignoring their forecast of a recovery in the second half of this year.
The list goes on, but the point is that all this news is heavy and weighs down the market. Of course, the heaviest news is always the first Friday of each month (yes, this Friday) when the Department of Labor releases its monthly "Jobs Report." Wall Street is whispering some very large numbers, which means expectations are high that a good number of jobs were created last month. If that is not the case, then the news will suddenly become much more heavy. Stay tuned . . .
China's growth rate has dropped to "only" 7.5%, ignoring their announcement that they plan to target future growth among consumers instead of of export.
All of Greece's lenders have not yet agreed in writing to the new bailout deal and the deadline is this Thursday, but did anybody expect this deal would close without drama?
Brazil announced their GDP growth rate had dropped to 2.5%, ignoring their comments that there were some temporary weather-related factors contributing to this temporary drop.
Home foreclosures in January surged 28% as the wave of foreclosures delayed by the "robo-signing" crisis began to hit courthouses across the country.
The European Commission forecast a recession in Europe this year, forgetting they are already in one and ignoring their forecast of a recovery in the second half of this year.
The list goes on, but the point is that all this news is heavy and weighs down the market. Of course, the heaviest news is always the first Friday of each month (yes, this Friday) when the Department of Labor releases its monthly "Jobs Report." Wall Street is whispering some very large numbers, which means expectations are high that a good number of jobs were created last month. If that is not the case, then the news will suddenly become much more heavy. Stay tuned . . .
