Fundamentals Not Changing Despite Gov't Help

One third of decline in the Dow today was due to the five financials stocks. This is the second time in the last three trading days this happened (Thursday was the other day). To a lesser extent, the same situation applies to consumer discretionary stocks--builders, retail, and autos, as they too are underperforming the markets today and Thursday.

The reason is that bears are betting that despite attempts to help the markets by the federal government, it is not changing the fundamentals: 1) consumer spending & labor will remain weak, and 2) financials will trouble growing their business even if housing bottoms, due to capital constraints and weak demand.

Take special note of Merrill Lynch, the first of the financials to hit new closing lows.

Questions? Comments? [e-mail]