(As of 7:30 am pacific)
Economic reports coming in from Asia and the US are pulling down markets this morning. It's hard to pick one particular piece of data as the cause of the pullback, because while not meeting expectations, the data is not that bad. Chinese manufacturing data came in low, but slightly above expectations, and there is worry that a Chinese slowdown will resound globally. Jobless claims in the US were not quite what was expected and has taken some of the glimmer off the hopes for a resurgent US economy. Taken together, along with some disappointing earnings news and announcements of more layoffs, there is a strong negative sentiment taking over markets this morning. By the end of the day I would expect losses to moderate. Oil is down slightly, adding to huge losses for the week. Commodities are generally down, including gold. The US dollar index is up strongly as the risk trade seems to be off and capital protection is today's watchword.
