This week’s primary influence has been deeply rooted in speculation over stress test results as well as the flood of earnings reports that, so far, indicate that profits are on the rise. These mixed signals have been too much for the Dow to bear. The index was sent back and forth between positive and negative territories. Within the last hour of the trading day, the Dow plummeted off of 60 point gains to end the day down more than 80. Nevertheless, the market may remain range bound until the entire earnings season has played out and all stress tests have been made public. Until this time we may be subject to a constrained trading pattern. The currency markets choose the pound to be the big loser of the day. Otherwise, the dollar rallied against the commodities currencies but fell against the yen and euro.

Global equities took a severe pounding in today’s trading. For the U.S., concerns over another wave of banking crises seem to take hold of investor’s sense of fear and uncertainty. The Dow was sent down more than 3.0%, while crude prices plummeted nearly 9.0% on the day. With economic data at a minimum for this week, the primary driver in the U.S. will remain to be the flood of corporate earnings. While news has been primarily promising thus far, many are still convinced that this will be the seventh consecutive monthly decline in corporate earnings. Accordingly, the standard risk adverse formation took shape in favor of dollar and yen strength. Crosses bared the brunt of the selling, sending AUD/JPY spiraling down by more than 4.5%.

Cautious optimism is the perfect catch phrase for today’s events. Things are getting better but it is unclear whether or not this is just a break in the storm, or the very beginnings of stabilization. The Federal Reserve seems to believe that we are a long ways off, while recent economic data and earnings reports are pointing toward stabilization. The Dow spent much of the day trying to find the answer to this unanswerable question. In the end, the bulls were barely able to maintain control. The euro and pounds got hammered in today’s session, losing more than 150 and 120 pips respectively. Surprisingly, dollar strength was not enough to keep USD/JPY from sinking further. Commodity currencies were mixed on the day.

US stock markets finished the day strongly. For most of today’s trading, markets expressed uncertainty about the latest flood of economic reports, most of which did not improve as much as anticipated. By the end of the day, the Fed was able to step in and console investors as to the current stage of stabilization in the US economy. The Fed’s Beige Book, a tabulation of conditions reported within each Federal Reserve District opened with the usual words of concern but then introduced the notion of stabilization. The markets took this news and decided to rally with it by more than 100 points. Currency markets reflected stern euro weakness in turn for broad based pound strength. The dollar was higher against the yen but lost more than 100 pips against the Canadian dollar.

Markets today are exhibiting the usual signs of uncertainty in light of a new month that has not exactly gotten off to the best start. Among currencies, the Euro, Pound, Canadian dollar, and Australian dollar all showed weakness against the dollar. USD/JPY on the other hand clearly exhibited dollar strength, as a surge to 101.00 is currently under way. The one currency that has managed to buck the trend has been the New Zealand dollar which only narrowly is holding on to gains. Nevertheless, the main driving force is the drop on the Dow today. However, as a sign of resilience in even a down market, the Dow rebounded off of exaggerated losses that extended down by nearly 150 pips to close down 41.74.

It is a dollar story in the foreign exchange market today as the greenback rises against every major currency. Although earlier risk aversion contributed to the strength of the US dollar, the underperformance of the Japanese Yen suggests that revenge of the low yielders is not the theme in the currency market. Since we are still waiting on the economic stimulus package, the market has shifted its focus away from politics and back onto economics. The comments about sovereign debt ratings by ratings agency Moody have spooked currency traders.