The data coming out of Europe is not good news and the continuing disarray over the Greek crisis is not helping. If only a crisis in Europe wouldn't impact the US.
The Flash Markit Eurozone Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) - measuring business activity at thousands of firms from banks to restaurants - fell to 47.2 this month from 48.8 in September, well below a consensus of 48.5 from economists surveyed by Reuters.
The euro zone's manufacturing PMI fell to 47.3 in October, its lowest level since July 2009, with German manufacturing falling for the first time in two years because of a combination of drops in output and new orders and backlogs of work.
The fall in euro zone PMI "reflected steep declines in both the manufacturing and services indices, suggesting that the deterioration in growth prospects reflects developments both at home and abroad," Ben May, European economist at Capital Economist, wrote in a market note.
