Stocks brace for sell off

Early reports this morning are that there will be a sell off of some stocks today, according to CNN.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks headed for a lower start Tuesday as a shake-up in world markets made its way across the Atlantic, adding to investor uneasiness about the economy.

Dow Jones industrial average, Nasdaq-100 and S&P-500 futures were lower, with most of the downturn occurring after 6 a.m. ET.

Futures measure current index values against their perceived future performance and offer an indication of how markets may open when trading begins.

Stocks ended mixed in a choppy session Monday as investors weighed a stronger dollar, falling oil and gold prices, and comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that cooled worries about higher interest rates.
- CNN

I hope to God, that they are wrong, but it is the nature of the beast. Up one day, down the next. So we will have to wait and see. Apparently, though, these predictions and fears are based on what happened in Europe yesterday and last night while we slept.

David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Markets in London, said that Wall Street is following declining stock indexes in London, Paris and Frankfurt, which stem from a disappointing report on German industrial output.

"It's definitely driven by this German data," said Jones, noting that sluggishness in pre-Christmas trading has arrived early this year, which creating more volatility. "We're already seeing volume starting to drop off, so we're seeing more exaggerated moves."

Peter Cardillo, chief market economist for Avalon Partners, said U.S. futures also appears to be reacting to "continued pressure in the Dubai Market."
- CNN

As you can see the fear is based on these other markets, but I have to wonder if press reports like these from CNN, would be more to blame. We all know, that past results don't mean a thing for the future. Yet, the mainstream press write stories like this causing fear in American markets. Which in turn results in sell offs that may have never occurred otherwise, despite what happened in Europe otherwise.
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