Grayish Friday

GRAYISH FRIDAY....Great. Another big stock selloff on my birthday. Technical traders, take note.

Actually, there are really starting to be some bad signs out there. Last quarter, corporate earnings kept the stock market in decent shape despite the subprime mortgage meltdown, but this quarter it's looking like earnings are going to be weak in addition to continuing turmoil in the mortgage market and the related collapse of the housing market. Oof.

And oil prices keep rising. The current conventional wisdom says the recent rise is basically a bubble driven by futures trading, and there's certainly something to this. At the same time, global oil production levels plateaued in 2005 and haven't risen since even in response to relentlessly rising prices — an odd occurrence indeed if there were truly any spare capacity left in the world. And if there isn't, then this is no bubble.

So....I dunno. Makes me nervous, that's all. Better get some cats posted ASAP.