Slow news day on the economic front.

We are seeing a big drop in lending by the SBA to small businesses, largely because in the SBA guaranteed program are refusing to lend.

Additionally, we are seeing the Federal Reserve’s plan to purchase mortgage backed securities opening much smaller than originally stated, $20 billion, as opposed to more than $100 billion.

I think that a lot of this is because the relaxation of accounting rules make it easier for executives to write themselves big pay checks with all the crap remaining on their books priced as gold, or if not gold, at least copper.

In any case, the dismal job numbers, are driving concerns that the economy has not yet hit bottom, which drove the dollar up, and oil down.