There is an article in The Wall Street Journal caught my eye this lovely Tuesday morning, as Sara Murray took a look at how families cut back on spending in 2008. According to the article, consumer prices increased nearly 4% when compared to 2007; but pre-tax income increased less than 1% - or $472 for an average family. Yes, the average American family made $472 more dollars in 2008 than it did in 2007. Breaking it down even further, the overall spending per consumer unit (which includes families, single people, or cohabitants) increased 1.7%, or $848, in 2008. This was the smallest spending increase since 2003. The biggest drop was in apparel spending (4.3%) while families spent 8.1% more on eating at home (which computes out to $279 per family).

The Commerce Department reported today that personal income was up 0.5 percent, slightly higher than August's revised 0.4 percent, but personal consumption slowed to just 0.1 percent in September, less than the revised 0.2 percent for August. These numbers are exactly the opposite what many economist were expecting. Economists expected to see a 0.4 percent increase for personal income and a 0.2 percent increase for consumer spending.

This report reflects the trend we saw in last week's GDP report from the Commerce Department which showed that economic growth was the weakest in three years. It also reinforces the Fed's decision to hold short-term interest rates steady amid signs that the economy is slowing.

Spending on durable goods -- those designed to last three years or longer -- increased by 1.6 percent, which is much better than August's 1.4 percent decline. But spending on non-durable goods declined by 1.2 percent after gaining in August by 0.2 percent.

Personal savings continues to be in the negative with a drop of 0.2 percent. That's now 18 months that savings has been in the red. I suspect personal income growth would need to increase much more dramatically to see the savings rate turnaround.

Early morning futures are negative, pointing to a lower start stocks.

The market is possibly reacting to two things, the first being the sell-off that started around noon Friday, and the other is the sell-off in overseas markets. Update: oil prices are lower and futures may be changing the negative trend, although they are still negative at 8:15 a.m..

On Friday, data concerning the health of the economy in the form of Gross Domestic Product was reported, showing a lower growth than anticipated. Despite the concern about the economy'd growth slowing down, the market braved the news until at noon the sell-off began. This could have also been triggered by a Goldman Sachs report about lower demand for PC boards in China in the coming year. This report sparked the sell-off in the tech, and then possibly expanded to the whole market.

Today, major stock markets in Asia closed lower, with Japan's Nikkei 225 down nearly 2% . European markets are also negative with the German DAX 30 declining 0.7%. as is the FTSE 100 in London.

This morning, September personal income and spending will be reported at 8:30 a.m.. Analysts forecast both to grow at 0.3%. A measure of inflation, core PCE price index will also be reported, although may not have the same weight as other inflation measures.

Topping the news this morning are Wal-Mart, Verizon (both are Dow components), American Power Conversion and Yahoo!:

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) reported a pallid 0.5% increase October sales, the smallest gain in six years. Wal-Mart shares were down 1.7% in Frankfurt this morning.

Yahoo!, Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral by Merrill Lynch, which calls the present stock price an attractive entry point. Yahoo! shares were up 1.4% in Frankfurt.

Verizon Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VZ) just reported third-quarter financial results. Earnings (non-GAAP) were $2.0 billion, or 68 cents per share, a 7.5% increase over last year's Q3 earnings of $1.8 billion, or 66 cents per share. Analysts were expecting flat earnings.

Finally, French electric equipment maker Schneider Electric SA had agreed to buy American Power Conversion Corp. (NASDAQ:APCC) for $6.1 billion in cash. According to Schneider, the $31 per share offer, which represents a 30% premium over APC's Friday closing price, has been approved by the APC board.

Other stories:

A Goldman Sachs report from Friday suggesting that shipments of the main circuit boards for personal computers will be weaker than expected this year, could be indicating a sector weakness. Already on Friday the report sent computer makers Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ) and Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) stocks down 1.8% and 1.1% respectively. Chip makers, Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) stocks dropped around 3%. The report could also impact Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares as many awaited its new operating system, Vista.

An article in TheStreet.com examines the recent rallies of Yahoo!, eBay, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), suggesting they are riding the positive sentiment from Google, Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG).

In the auto industry, two more foreign automakers would shortly announce their plans to produce cars in Russia. General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM) and Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) are already producing there, and Toyota Motor Corp. (ADR) (NYSE:TM) will start shortly.

Norway's Statoil and its partners Norsk Hydro and ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) have awarded contracts worth about 700 million Norwegian crowns ($107 million) for gas turbine maintenance to General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE) and a unit of German engine group MTU.

Time Warner, Inc.'s (NYSE:TWX) Warner Bros, Martin Scorsese's mob tale "The Departed" held strongly again, taking in $9.8 million to place second for the third-straight weekend. The Warner Bros. film lifted its total to $91.1 million. In first place was Liongate's "Saw III."

Finally, the Blogging Stocks team reported some interesting stories on Apple Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) over the weekend.

Stocks were a bit higher this morning in pre-market trading, but they didn't seem to have much conviction and were drifting lower as the bell approached. On the positive side, overseas markets were higher and news of Boeing's possible $1.7 billion purchase of Aviall was making things more exciting.

Plus, Wal-Mart's 6.8% jump in same-store sales, reported on Saturday, was boosting optimism that the consumer would hang tough as energy prices surge. At 8:30 a.m., the government reported higher personal income and consumer spending in March. Both came in higher than expected and a nice bump from February. This news should give investors added motivation to hang tough today, despite global concerns.

But oil prices were on the upswing this morning, topping $72 a barrel -- again. And confrontation over Iran's nuclear intentions was heating up. Meanwhile businesses were wondering how disruptive plans for an immigrant labor boycott today would be. Spiking gold prices -- now up to $662 -- were a sign that some investors are worrying about a falling dollar and global stability.

Here's a quick look at key Blogging Stocks this morning: Here's a quick look at key Blogging Stocks this morning:  

Apple (AAPL) is up 38 cents to $70.77 as of 8:30 a.m. A pessimistic Dow Jones story, "Apple's Been Bruised, But Will May Bring A Beating?," doesn't seem to be deterring investors who seem set to continue last week's rally in the stock price.

Google (GOOG) is up $1.68 to $419.62 as of 8:37 a.m. It is weighing in on Microsoft's antitrust battle over Internet Explorer.

Yahoo! (YHOO) is up 27 cents to $33.05 as of 8:36 a.m. Check out Yahoo! Tech, it's new site for computer and consumer electronics shoppers.

eBay (EBAY) is up 35 cents to $34.76 as of 8:37 a.m.