I vividly recall Charlie Clough being fired in early 2000 coincident with the market top. He was wildly bearish. Nobody has ever accused brokerage management of having good timing.

There was some buying back in the early morning, but the market remains top-heavy, as market players are waiting for the results of auction of 10-year bonds this afternoon.

Nobody knew in advance that in vitro fertilization would be, by and large, safe.

The inventory of unsold homes has been building in the past four or five months - which is not surprising, as affordability has gotten stretched and stretched, and creative financing has grown more absurd.

It's really getting treated with skepticism. Investors have turned in their rose-colored glasses for accounting visors.

The company faces the dual challenge of lower power system orders and a likely hiatus in jet production.