BULLETIN – STOCKS SLIDE DRAMATICALLY – AT 10:16 A.M. ET:  Yesterday's rally, which was probably just some bargain hunting, is history.  Things are not good on Wall Street this morning.  From Bloomberg:

U.S. stocks tumbled, erasing more than half of yesterday’s rally, while European shares slid and Treasuries rose for a third day amid concern the economic recovery is faltering and the debt crisis is spreading to France. The euro weakened against 11 of 16 major peers, dropping 1.1 percent to $1.4220.

At this hour the Dow is down 324 points.

Some economists are warning that the debt crisis in Europe, which has spread to Italy and Spain, and now threatens France, is far more important than the downgrading of American credit by one ratings agency.  Europe has thus far not solved its debt crisis, in part because the European public continues to demand high social spending.

If Europe fails, it could make this last week look like prosperity.

August 10, 2011