The S&P 500 closed today at 1309, down well over 1%. The NASDAQ closed down nearly 2%.  In light of relative valuations and current global prospects for the past six months, the question begs an answer: Why?  Let’s begin with an overview of the results of the past week.

Greece, Spain, Italy. Eurozone. Austerity. For stock investors, it’s just more of the same—the same rollercoaster of hope and despair about any of a number of potential outcomes…without resolution. On Wednesday, stocks had their strongest one-day rally since December.

Today, the market sold off as much as a full percent before recovering to a slight loss at the close.  At midday, it was off more than 10% from its high in April despite the solid quarterly earnings added in Q1. Factory Orders (-0.6%) were well below the expected number (+0.1%), continuing a worrisome trend that began last week when every major economic number disappointed: Consumer Confidence, Initial Jobless Claims, GDP 1st qtr.

Last week, the spotlight of worry was back on Greece’s solvency. This week it is Spain’s turn again to spook us. Greece, Spain, and Italy are in economic disarray, and the prospect of growing their way out of trouble appears unlikely given the recessionary forces. Even emerging market darlings like Brazil, China, and India are struggling. Although U.S.

Last week was horrible, while today was quite good, albeit on low volume.  What happened?  Let’s review the facts.

Last week, the S&P 500 dropped over -4% to close Friday at the key support at 1295, off nearly -8% from its April high.  Mid-cap Growth was the worst style/cap, down -6.2%.  The best was Large-cap Value, off -4.3%.

When something is confusing or incomprehensible, a person might say, “It’s all Greek to me.” Well, that’s exactly what investors have been saying for the past several days—in the market’s inimitable way. Despite promising economic and corporate news in the U.S., the headline risk from Europe has been just too much to bear. It is keeping the bulls at bay, and front and center for an encore performance is Greece.

A weekend of more election surprises in Europe, as a socialist candidate won a key state vote in Germany, threatening Prime Minister Angela Merkel‘s stance on austerity in the Eurozone. The Greek “leadership” has all but abandoned hope of forming a new elected government, likely requiring yet another vote.

Last week I noted that there wasn’t much new to say about the stock market and its drivers lately, but like washing your car tends to attract rain, my comments were immediately followed by anger-driven election results in France and Greece. Both of these elections were about a rejection of austerity mandates placed upon a citizenry already feeling severe pain. The thought process is, “If the U.S.

Today’s trading began amidst a multitude of unpleasant factors.