The four E's of the apocalypse are wreaking vengeance on the stock market: economy, election, energy, euro. The barnyard is full of Chicken Littles yelling, "Corporate earnings! Corporate earnings!". Every earnings "pre-announcement" adds to the hysteria, and the high-flying big techs have not proven immune. There are a few more early warnings than in recent quarters, but it's certainly not a deluge. But the carnage is even worse than usual among companies that disappoint - look at Apple losing half its value overnight.

Many companies are trying to dampen expectations for future revenues and earnings. Are they convinced the economy is slowing? Or are they expecting a slowdown from recent interest rate boosts by the Fed? The economic indicators that came out last week looked robust across-the-board, including second-quarter GDP growth at 5.6%, a healthy increase in durable goods orders, and a jump in the purchasing managers' index. And we naughty consumers are back to our old spendthrift ways. There's good news on the energy front, with oil prices easing and the Saudis targeting a price/bbl. in the low $20's.