If stock futures are any indication -- and they usually are -- then U.S. stocks are likely to start Thursday morning on in the same manner they have left off yesterday -- down. As global markets took a beating today, U.S. stock futures are tumbling, ahead of some housing market data that is bound to not-so-encouraging. And while Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson tried his best to calm markets down [subscription] a little saying he expects a slow down, not a stall of the U.S. economy growth, the words of William Poole, president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, may be affecting the market the other way. Yes, he also said the subprime mortgage woes don't threaten U.S. economic growth, but he also quashed hopes of a Fed intervention and a rate cut.

Yesterday, a late-day sell-off again pressured U.S. stocks as the Dow Jones industrials closed under 13,000, while the S&P 500 erased the entire year's gains. This continued in overseas markets with Japan's Nikkei 225 index closing down nearly 2%, South Korea's main benchmark fell 6.9% and Hong Kong's blue chip Hang Seng Index dropped 3.3%. In Europe things aren't much better by midday trading. Britain's FTSE and France's CAC-40 are over 3%, and Germany's DAX down 2.6%.

Today some housing market data will also be reported. July housing starts and building permits are due at 8:30 a.m. before the market open. Starts are expected to have fallen to an annual rate of 1.41 million from 1.47 million in June. Permits are expected to decline to a 1.4 million annual rate, further down from the 1.41 million in June. The June permits number was the lowest in ten years, and if starts fall by more than forecast, they will fall to a nearly 11-year low.
Weekly jobless rate is also due at the same time.

Despite Poole's remarking that a Fed move to cut rates isn't close at hand, Treasuries still gained this morning as the flight to the safety of government debt was fed by global markets declines.

Interestingly, the European Commission said it will investigate credit-rating agencies, saying perhaps they should have warned investors better -- and sooner -- of the dangers of investing in mortgage-backed securities.

Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) is due to report its quarterly financial results after close today.