Futures:
S&P 500 1,316.70 -11.10
NASDAQ 100 2,321.75 -21.75
DJIA INDEX 12,359.00 -107.00
Good morning! Happy Monday! Everything’s getting clobbered right now following a week of turmoil on Wall Street and more uncertainty in Europe.
We start in Japan, where the Nikkei fell 1.5%, and TEPCO turned in a particularly ugly showing, plunging 9%.
Shanghai fell a massive 2.9%. See more on that here.
In Europe, ugliness across the board:
- France: -1.6%
- Germany -1.6%
- Italy -2.7% (more here)
- Spain -1.3%
- Greece -1.37%
A surprisingly strong reaction to S&P’s late Friday negative revision of Italy’s credit rating, plus Greek torpor, plus Spanish elections…
Either way — the euro’s at a two-month low and just above $1.40 at pixel time. Bonds throughout the periphery are selling off, including Spain and Italy, who are both at their widest spread to Bunds since January…
An Icelandic volcanic eruption that began May 21 under Europe’s largest glacier could threaten trans-Atlantic and European air traffic with ash reaching the U.K. as early as tonight.
Expectations for annual consumer-price gains have jumped by 43 percent to 2.10 percentage points since the central bank began its second round of asset purchases in November, as measured by the breakeven rate for five-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities. The measure is close to levels before the recession — when the central bank’s benchmark interest rate was 5.25 percent, compared with about zero today.
“Investors are overreacting,” said Biggs, citing concerns about the European debt crisis, housing and reduced stimulus from the U.S. Federal Reserve. “All those worries are true, but I can see a number of them will be resolved in the next two months, and I do not think the global economy will slow down significantly. Stocks are very reasonably priced on earnings for next year.”
Cheer up, it’s not like it’s the end of the world
Bonus Reptilian Apparition:
While there has not yet been a second coming of Christ (as of this writing) on this day of Rapture, there was at least one holy sign for the faithful to embrace in northwest suburban Streamwood.
A printing company employee out on her break picked up a tiny turtle and was immediately struck by its markings.
“Right away, to her it resembled the Virgin Mary,” said Ronnie Chavez in retelling his mom’s Saturday morning tale.