(as of 7:15 AM PST)
Yesterday the stock market was down a small amount, but it was a very disappointing day amid a surge in volatility and a 400 point swing in the Dow Jones Index. A nice rally at the beginning had the index up 250 points, only to see those gains melt away and to see a swing to a 150 point loss before there was some recovery to end the trading day. Today's action looks like more of the same. The Dow started down 1% on disappointing retail sales numbers for December. Sales were down .9% and November's number was also revised downward. Some of the drop was due to lower gas prices but there is a feeling that the US economic recovery is sputtering because the rest of the global economy is in a tailspin. The World Bank added to the negativity by lowering its full year global GDP forecast from 3.4% to 3%. Stocks are attempting to claw back in early morning action. Gold is up a small amount while oil seems to have found a bottom at $46 and is inching back up. Earnings season is about to pick up steam and will likely be the key driver for the stock market for the next few weeks. Interest rate yields continue to fall and refinance activity is exploding as consumers take advantage of the recent large fall in mortgage rates with the 30 year mortgage at or below 3.75%.
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