I may sound cynical, but my reaction is, it’s about time.

Can we please get rid of the “Alice in Wonderland” thinking now? Or, rather, the “techs are strong and that will save the market” thinking?

This morning crude oil continues to pick up ground, (hovering around $97.40 as of this writing) while we have more banks talking about more billion dollar writedowns, and those banks which have already confessed to mortgage debt-related write-downs are now talking about even more on the horizon.

This morning it was announced that retail sales for October were, er, mixed to down.

Thomson Financial, which compares monthly results at 43 of the nation’s largest retail chains, said October same-store sales overall rose 1.6 percent, weaker than its initial forecast of a 2 percent rise. Same-store sales in October 2006 rose 3 percent.

Last month’s lackluster performance follows a 1.4 percent gain in September, which was the slowest monthly same-store sales gain since August 2004.

Notable in their gains for the month? Target, Costco, and Saks. Interesting.

Then there is the issue of the dollar. Been to Europe lately? Good luck. As of this writing, the euro is hanging at almost $1.47.

Thinking of getting married in the near future? Be prepared to spend more for the bling. Both gold and platinum are continuing their record-making climbs today — as commodities prices in general continue to surge.

And finally, there was Big Ben’s pronouncements this morning to Congress. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve told Congress this morning that the U.S. economy not only faces the risk of a sharp slowdown from the housing market’s contraction but also of an inflationary surge from sharply higher crude-oil prices and the weaker dollar.

Sharp guy that Bernanke. Wonder how he came to these conclusions.

Bernanke said that the policy-setting Federal Reserve Open Market Committee expect the economy to slow “noticeably” from the third-quarter growth rate and remain sluggish in the first half of 2008. But Bernanke also suggested that the hawkish members of the Fed might have a point about inflation. There were downside risks to the subdued growth forecast, and upside risks to the benign inflation outlook, Bernanke said.

Oh, and the Things with Wings?

They’re getting beaten up today on Wall Street. All the airline stocks we follow were in the red, last time I checked, with the exception of Republic, SkyWest, and WestJet.

Technorati Tags: Ben Bernanke, crude oil, Economy