Here are the numbers that the market fear:
- Core PPI came at 0.0% vs. 0.1% consensus. This is raising the specter of deflation.
- Retail Sales ex-auto came at -0.2% vs. +0.3% consensus. We are not concerned about this metric at this time because gas prices are falling and that is like an extra Christmas present for consumers.
- Empire Manufacturing came at 6.17 vs. 20.4 consensus.
- WTI crude falls below $80.
Interest rates are falling fast and bonds are rising as institutional investors begin to think in terms of deflation and recession.
A lot of technical selling in early trading oil.