Well, perhaps not literally, but it is high time that the Central Banks started following up on their statements with action. How many times have we heard “We will do whatever it takes to…” or “We have a number of choices to make regarding getting the economy going ….”  Can we please do one or two of those things?   Right now, getting Europe back on track is mandatory to avoid a catastrophic dismantlement of the euro.  And with withering domestic economic numbers, it is time for more action and less talk from our Fed Chairman.

Despite last week’s little rally, April showers have dampened market. While it didn’t build into a torrential downpour, it steadily showered investors with worse-than-expected economic data, including last week’s dreadful Durable Goods Report (-4.2% compared to last month’s +1.9%), continued but minor increases in initial jobless claims throughout April, and a disappointing initial Q1 estimate of GDP (+2.2% compared the previous quarter’s +3.0%).

"The Pain in Spain: More Room for a Short ETF Bet?"

Sabrient's Daniel Sckolnik was quoted at length in this article by Ronald Fink in Institutional Investor:

Walmart-Gate, Dutch-Gate, Netflix-Gate, Exit-Gate!

This could be the “exit gate” but probably not.  Over the weekend, the New York Times released a blockbuster story about Walmart’s (WMT) alleged massive cover-up of serious violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act involving more than $24 million dollars in bribes to accelerate store openings and bypass permit and zoning practices.  The stock was down 4.55% today, at $59.54.

Here we are again wondering what the market wants.  Today, it clearly wasn’t Technology stocks, as various issues dragged both Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) lower.

Last Monday was a banner day for most indices with S&P 500 hitting at new 46-month high of 1422.  Alas, a week later, today, it closed at 1382, down nearly -3%.  The NASDAQ and DJIA exhibited similar behavior.