New York, November 13th. All eyes are shifting to the S&P 500 as it breaks below the Oct 27 and 28 pullback lows and closes the gap on the bear market nadir at 8398 scored on Oct 10. Last at 8427, this important low is close by. A close below it would be a  terrible omen for the market and for risk assumption in general, which would likely lead to fresh USD and Yen buying and carry trade selling, particularly in the commodity currencies.
A House hearing on the hedge fund industry, the upshot of which is thought to be attempts to regulate and/or tax these funds, is likely not helping sentiment today, particularly in the wake the sharp rise in new and continuing jobless claims reported this morning.