Earlier today, the Asia-Pacific equity markets, with the exception of Shanghai, closed sharply lower, down -4.49 pct to 12992 for the Japanese Nikkei 225, and -5.12 pct to 16677.9 for the BSE 30 of India. Australia’s All Ords closed down -2.89 pct to 5510.7 and the Hang Seng of Hong Kong dropped -3.07 pct to 23585.

Traders worldwide are concerned about the stability of the global banking system as well as the sharp pullback in consumer spending in the US.

Not all is doom and gloom, however.

“Shanghai rises, bounces off support on huge volume despite all the bearishness and weak US equities; it appears longs are favored.” So says the Shanghai Fly who checked in at 4:21am ET.

Also, just before 8am ET, European share indexes are down much less than their counterparts in Asia. The FTSE, CAC and DAX are off between -1.25 pct and -1.60 pct. Traders there are hoping for rate cuts from the Bank of England, European Central Bank and the Bank of Canada this week.

Precious metal bullion prices continue to be favored over the shares of the miners regardless of whether there are rate cuts by the central bankers. These companies are stuck with rising costs, energy shortages, and other operating problems. If the broad market continues to sell off, the miners’ share prices will be severely affected. I recommend letting the share prices fall back to more attractive levels.

The stream of economic reports from the US this week is heavy. The negative results continue to hurt the market. This is a good time to wait for prices to come to you. There is an occasional special trading opportunity, but wealth management should focus this week primarily on risk management.

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Links & Charts

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International Economics Review

US Economic Calendar.

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International Equity Markets Review

Europe

Here is the latest session data for the bourses of Europe.

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Here is the latest session data for the London stock exchange FTSE.

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Here is the latest session data for the German DAX.

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Here is the latest session data for the French CAC 40.

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Here is the latest session data for the Milan Italy stock exchange MIBTEL.

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Here is the latest session data for the Swiss market index.

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Asia-Pacific

Here is the latest session data for the Asia-Pacific stock exchanges.

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Here is the latest chart for the Japanese Nikkei 225 index.

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Here is the latest chart for the Singapore index .

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Here is the latest chart for the Shanghai Composite index .

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Here is the latest chart for the Hong Kong Hang Seng index .

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Here is the latest chart for the India BSE 30 index .

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Here is the latest chart for the Australian All Ordinaries index .

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US Equity Markets Review

DJIA (interactive) chart

NASDAQ Composite (interactive) chart

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Oil Review

Here is the e-miNY Jan-08 Crude Oil chart.

Interactive Chart of Daily Crude Oil:

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Gold & Precious Metals Review

Spot gold chart for the week

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Spot silver chart for the week

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Forex Review

Here is the chart of the week's trading in the $USD.

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Addendum

At 8:55am ET, spot prices for gold, palladium, platinum and silver are at 983.99 (up from 980.90 an hour ago), 571, 2167, and 20.20 respectively.

The March Euro is strong at 1.5188, April Crude at 101.525 (up 40 cents in the past 45 minutes), and the March DJIA futures at 12262 (up from 12223 an hour ago).