Oil prices are at $91.00, a huge plus for a global economy that is being buffeted by an unprecedented financial storm.
Next up for the market is US CPI. Against the present backdrop it is less important than it otherwise would be, but expect a 0.1% decline in headline prices and a 0.2% rise in the core. With oil prices tumbling, future inflation is sure to come lower later in the year. Rising unemployment and growing financial instability are far more pressing matters. While the transmission mechanism between official interest rates and rates of interest charged by banks is clearly broken, official rates send important signals and it is time for the Fed to try and calm the markets.
Also in focus will be the earnings of the last men standing as both Goldman and Morgan Stanley report earnings at 8:30.
