I was not expecting much action in the market yesterday; expecting low volume in anticipation of the important EU meeting of finance ministers today, and that’s how the day started.  The market had been promised by Merkel that Wednesday’s meeting would produce the final comprehensive plan to end the European crisis.  Then, there was a rumor yesterday that the meeting of finance ministers had been postponed.  Then, there was confusion as to whom was meeting, finance minister or chiefs of state.  Then, the media started pointing fingers at each other for not having the facts right.

In the end, it was a dark reminder of how dependent the American stock market has become on news out of Europe, and investors panicked.  By the close, four billion shares had been traded, and the Dow was down 207 points.

After the close, Alan Greenspan predicted the European Union was doomed to fail, because there was no unified fiscal policy.

Overnight, there was a rumor that Italy agreed to raise its retirement age from 65 to 67, which had been a big stumbling block.  (FYI  — we did that several several years ago.)  This was good news, indeed!

Ignoring Alan Greenspan, the Ayn Rand-disciple who fueled the American real estate debacle, the futures market indicates the Dow will rise about 60 points at the open.  Again, I expect light volume until there is some announcement out of the EU meeting this afternoon.  Stay tuned . . . somebody in Europe may yank the carpet at any minute!