Inflation Isn’t Stopping Dollar Selling

Today's surprisingly robust inflation data initially propped up stocks, but Eurozone concerns pressured equities lower. The inflation news put a little doubt in some analyst's minds about follow-on QE, but not enough to stem losses in the U.S. dollar.

Retailers seem to be adjusting to the economic slowdown by paring inventories and being more strategic in spending their marketing dollars.

Treasury rates continue to head lower after the credit downgrade, which puts S&P in the same competition as Meredith Whitney for "Bad Call of the Year." Meanwhile, default insurance for the German Bund continues to increase, suggesting that the stronger European economies will largely bare the blunt of additional fiscal issues in that region.