Economic Woes

Yesterday's Fed meeting left investors feeling skittish. Today's trade gap report left them feeling downright pessimistic. Sluggishness across the globe caused markets to drop nearly 3% today. The day started out gloomy, with no improvement in attitude by the close. A real hump day! DJIA -265.42 NASDAQ -68.54 S&P 500 -31.59

All About the Fed

The Federal Reserve met today. Their big concern? DEflation. That's right, deflation. While everyone else is screaming about inflation, the Federal Reserve is more concerned about deflation that could cause growth to sputter. Summer has already seen a big slowdown in activity, and the Fed announced plans to keep the pedal down. While we know the economy is still on life support, to hear the official word sent investors into hiding. Markets dropped in response. DJIA -54.50 NASDAQ -28.52 S&P 500 -6.73

Going Against the Flow

The news today didn't bode well for stocks. The report on personal income for 2009 indicated a decline, but that was 2009. Two high profile CEOs stepped aside, HP and Sara Lee. McDonald's earnings jumped, but it's McDs. Doesn't that mean we're rushing back to cheap food? The only bright spot was the talk of the latest IPO-- for Skype. Despite all the negative news, stocks gained nicely. Does this mean better days are ahead? DJIA +45.19 NASDAQ +17.22 S&P 500 +6.15

Hoping for More

The retail numbers came out today. While sales increased, markets hoped for more. The gains were slight, and some came because of continued deep discounting. Still, upscale retailers and big box discounters seem to be winning. It's the retailers in between who are suffering the most. Jobless claims were up slightly. Markets responded with a stifled yawn. Investors keep looking for bigger numbers. Those may not appear until the end of August. DJIA -5.45 NASDAQ -10.51 S&P 500 -1.43

Tuesday

Investors retreated today as disappointing earnings and economic reports dampened yesterday's optimism over the strength of the recovery. July was the market's best month in a year, but many are concerned that the gains may have exaggerated the economic recovery. Today's weak readings on housing, consumer spending and factory orders have painted a murkier picture and prompted more caution in today's trading session. U.S. auto sales showed a modest improvement in July although the size of the gains were not as good as expected. This mixed picture comes as we await the government's key jobs report on Friday and a Federal Reserve meeting next week. DJIA -38.00 Nasdaq -11.84 S&P 500 -5.40.