With more domestic news than we can handle, we are first-rate to ignore some global news which can impact us.

One such item was the repeat downward revision of world growth forecast by the IMF for both 2008 and 2009. For this year IMF down-rated world growth from 4.1% to 3.9%. For 2009, from 3.9% to 3.7%. A 0.2% change may not appear distinguished in percentages but we should not forget that that by itself it represents billions of dollars.

How this impacts us?

We usually console ourselves that a falling dollar will become advantageous by making our exports cheaper and competitive in the global market. But that is based on the assumption that economies of foreign importer nations, especially Europe, will maintain a status quo, if not attain upward growth. After all, dollar being the benchmark currency, any adverse proceed of dollar can reasonably expected to push up other currencies.

Not so this time. The recount specifically mentions the state of European economy as the reason for the repeat revision of the forecast. That means, the hopes of a cheaper dollar pushing up our exports may not happen even next year. European business mavens should be blaming the day they decided to forsake their conservative methods and to transplant the unruly, uneconomic CEO culture from the other side of the Atlantic.

Bear Sterns and Lehman Bros sagas don’t give noteworthy for us to brag about our CEOs. When the CEO of Toll Bros openly and honestly admitted that the likes of him are waiting for the arrival of Barak Obama at the White House, it shows how bad things are.

With South Korean regulators breathing down the neck of the Korea Development Bank, chances of a Korean salvage of LEH has become remote. And when a high-profile US regulatory authority has to debase itself for the sake of the prodigal financials and arm-twist Credit Suisse into NOT denying short-term credit to Lehman, that shows how desperate the situation is.

Our preoccupation with pampering errant financial CEOs meant we ignored other sectors like agriculture and cannot consume advantage of the relieve provided by those ignored sectors.

Yes, our agricultural sector has returned stellar harvests. Our farmers have stumped us and have caught us with our pants down because we forgot to provide them with adequate transportational infrastructure. Every day delayed means losses in millions for the farmers and all business links in the food chain until it reaches the end-user.

Where did we go wrong? Agriculture should have been given an equal footing with housing; so that when other sectors failed, we would
have another sector to cushion the losses.

But for many, providing government subsidies, fighting on WTO forums or destroying excess production to protect the prices is agriculture. For most of us,
especially metro-dwellers, agriculture is the hobby of some laid back guys and gals in our prairie states.

Forget about haggling with foreign buyers or sellers. How about getting the golden harvest of our farmers to American homes and bring help to our own people?

As for the housing sector,July saw existing home sales rise by 3.1%. However, that is just a drop in the ocean as house prices are still
suppressed by a relate high unsold inventory and stagnant near a ten-year lows.

Back to Wall Street:

Indices took a severe drubbing. The only consolation for the bull is that volume in NYSE didn’t near the billions. Volume in NYSE was
only 865 mln and in Nasdaq it was 1.44 bln.

As happened in the first half of last week, Advance/Decline data confirms a bearish picture. Bearish stocks out-maneuvered by bullish stocks by a margin inexcess of 2:1. In NYSE, 2424 stocks declined against only 710 advanced. In the Nasdaq it was 2212 declined against 603 advanced.

Dow went down by -241.81 (-2.12%) to 11386.25
Nasdaq down by -49.12 (-2.08%) to 2365.59
S&P 500 down by -25.36 (-2.00) to 1266.84

Will Disney (DIS) succeed where Microsoft (MSFT) failed. We will have to await confirmation from Disney or Yahoo (YHOO) whether any formal
talks are on.

One of the few financial companies that could pad the recent onslaughts on the sector is Wells Fargo (WFC) – commendable considering the fact that they were also into mortgages in a big way. Now we hear that they won’t be bailing out Wachovia (WB) and Washington Mutual (WM). Excellent for their shareholders.

Recently our government had promised automobile manufacturers 25 billion dollars in developmental loans to tide over difficult times. Now, the manufacturers are demanding twice as much. While auto manufacturers need tax-payers’ wait on, if those billions are used only to cover up the failures of the CEOs and the top brass without increasing jobs, then that second tranche will only add to money thrown down the drain. So, government should ask for performance guaranty and proof of increased employment before handing out that second tranche of tax-payers’ money.

Asking for performance guaranty is not socialism, it is raising standards of accountability for tax-payers’ hard earned money.

Will Boeing (BA) be able to ward off the impending strike by its workers? The company has now offered offered 6.5% spread over three years, while union leaders demand a 9-13% pay raise in addition to expanded benefits.

XShares will be closing 15 healthcare sector ETFs under their management. May be it gives credence to the observation that ETFs are suffering from too early expansion. Many times jumping on to the bandwagon need not mean you got an adequate foothold for settling down.

China watchers should be interested in the positve company reports from there. While yearly revenues of China Life Insurance Company
(LFC)and China Netcom (CN) fell, their gather profits were somewhat better than those predicted by the market. China Unicom (CHU) shwowed
better than expected results in higher quarterly rep profit and half-yearly revenues.

Surprisingly, Freddie Mac (FRE) shares sprang up by 17% + when it became known that their $2 billion debt auction was in put a question to and well attended. Fannie Mae (FNM) went up 3.8%.

M&A:

Precision Drilling Trust (PDS) is acquiringGrey Wolf (GW) for $2 billion.

Broadcom (BRCM) will acquire Devices’s (AMD) digital TV business.

ANALYSTS’ RATINGS:

Today’s company upgrades include:

AnnTaylor (ANN), BB&T Corp (BBT), China Sunergy (CSUN), GOL Linhas Areas Inteligentes S.A. (GOL), Leggett & Platt (LEG) and TAM S.A. (TAM).

Analysts downgraded:

Alpharma (ALO), Cablevision (CVC), Headwaters (HW), Healthways (HWAY), Knight Transportation (KNX), The Parent Company (KIDS) and Werner Enterprises (WERN).

Ben Bernanke spoke again today. This time he wants to impose unique regulations and oversight on individual financial institutions, in addition to the point to sectorial approach. At least good that we are becoming wiser after the events to restore the lost faith of the short-changed depositors.

But Ben will probably wait to see a change in the White House before that.

As for the daily get, bearish sentiments today will be strengthened tomorrow if they are accompanied by convincing volume.