PRE MARKETS

Markets set for a lower open as earnings pour in and they aren't looking so great.

ES-6.5;

NQ-6.25;

YM-67;

Yesterday was ugly and it brought back memories of pre March trading- just a drift lower all day and a close at/near the lows.

The VIX is above the SMA 10 as it moved up about 15% yesterday and the RSI (2) level on major indexes is over sold and trading near 15.

BAC - trading down another 6% this morning at around $7.5 per share - folks apparently not happy that the government may want to convert the preferred to common and dilute the current owners- Also a fear that the balance sheets of the big banks are actually not improving but getting worse - hmmm - where is Kudlow and his mustard.

GS MS JPM RF BK C WFC CAT MRK DD AXP IBM GE all trading lower -

A few other things:

Student loan defaults surge: According to the Department of Education, default rates for federally guaranteed student loans are expected to hit 6.9% for 2007. That's up from 4.6% in 2006 and is the highest rate since 1998. Default rates on student loans are jumping as graduates buckle under rising tuition costs and a weakening jobs market. For more, see page D1 of today's WSJ, "Student Loans: Default Rates Are Soaring".

Commercial real estate crumbling: According to Moody's, commercial property prices in the US dropped 21.5% through February from their October 2007 peak. Properties acquired in 2005 are now falling enough in price that, on average, most are worth less than when they were purchased.

As a sign of just how sharply the high-end real estate marketing is crumbling, take a look at page A6 of today's WSJ, "Sign of the Times: Manor Price Cut by $50 Million". In what may be the biggest home price cut ever, the Greenwich, CT manor house of the late Leona Helmsley is now going for $75 million. A year ago it was listed at $125 million.

Dougie Kass apparently coming out with a portfolio on his rm site- not sure why its much different than SPY + cash.

BESPOKE with an analysis of yesterday's trading and clearly the best became the worst.

Bill on commercial real estate.

And of course the BIG LEAK from yesterday- and it better not be true-

The A/D line and trend/range trading environments;

JIM ROGERS- i don't think so;