There's no two ways about it -- investors feel blindsided. But they shouldn't since the news taking the averages down have been building for some time. Stocks rode higher on a sea of Fed liquidity, bailouts, transfer payments and ultra-low interest rates. They became incredibly overbought and now they're not. Confidence in the integrity of markets is at a low point shocking even the most ardent and vocal bullish cheerleaders.
What lies ahead? Nobody knows. Certainly economic and earnings news have been helpful but then there's that "sell the news" deal combined with newly revealed debt concerns at home and abroad.
I'll leave it to others to expand on today's news since the tape is really all that matters and it stunk.
~~>>>It does seem like there's another shoe to drop and what that might be is beyond my ability to know.
Volume was heavy again as distribution continues with breadth data still sharply negative per the WSJ below: