Thursday, August 18, 2011 8:45 AM – Volatility is Back

Stocks are set to open down 2% today. In Europe bank selling has spilled over into other stocks and stock indexes are down as much 3.6%. Of course, gold is up and bonds should be too.

The European financial crisis is back in the headlines after news that European banks are increasing their borrowing from the European Central Bank rather than borrow at lower rates from each other. This is concerning because this is how 2008 really got rolling. The NY Federal Reserve Bank is investigating US operations of European banks because it is concerned that they may not have sufficient access to cash for short-term funding needs.