Stocks off to worst start since 1982

Bloomberg published an article this morning about the state of the market. Recessionary talk is building and this article adds fuel to the fire in discussing how bad things are.

Some takeaways from the article:

• U.S. stocks fell for a third straight week.
• The S&P 500 Index fell 0.8 percent to 1,401.02 this week, bringing its year-to-date loss to 4.6 percent for the worst start since 1982.
• The unemployment rate jumped to a two-year high in December and job growth was the slowest since August 2003.
• We've witnessed the largest decline in manufacturing in five years.
• Yields on Treasury securities sank -- the two-year note fell 0.19 point to 2.55 percent, the lowest since October 2004.
• The financial industry may report a 69.3 percent decline in earnings.

Most of the article focuses this gloom-and-doom on the ailing consumer. American Express (NYSE: AXP) and Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) were two companies cited struggling under a perfect storm of subprime exposure, a real estate slump, and increasing unemployment.

Zack Miller is the Managing Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com and a former equity analyst for a leading multinational hedge fund.