Weekly Market Forcast

The European markets were all trading down roughly 3% by the time the US markets opened.The US markets were indicating only about a 1 1/2% decline… but that didn’t last long, and they rapidly deteriorated to down about 3% as well.

We did witness a “breather” the week before last… but last week the markets managed to regain their footing and mounted a nice rally in the second half of the week to carry prices to the highest levels seen since the current bottoms were established in early March.

The DOW topped out in the 8190 area, and this morning it has retreated significantly as we noted above.This could have a little to do with the post-expiration day reversal that we often see… but it also is probably the result of the our beloved federal government “backdooring” its way into a significant ownership position in banks that were “borrowers” when the federal “assistance” (or “protection” – take your pick) was offered.