This morning, my colleague Connie Madon reported that initial jobless claims showed a disappointing gain of just 39,000 jobs and an unemployment rate at a seven-month high of 9.8%. Remember that the Street expected job growth of 144,000. This disappointing data has helped push the Dow Jones as we head through the lunch hour. I wanted to take a look at a couple tidbits of news from the report, one that I find especially disturbing.

I was reading a rather interesting article in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) about the potential for a holiday toy war between Target (TGT) and Walmart (WMT). The price war centers on toys because "parents will buy stuff for their kids even when the economy is awful."

The article adds that shoppers have attempted to buy the "biggest toy bargains" while "ignor[ing] stores' other offerings." However, the article is quick to point out improving economic conditions suggest that retailers have a reason to believe the shoppers will look around the store a bit more and be quicker to part with some cash. Is this a safe assumption? Yes, I think that it is. However, I have a couple of reservations.

I guess you could say that shareholders of Harley-Davidson (HOG) aren't in hog heaven. The motorcycle magnate announced solid third-quarter earnings results, but it disappointed the Street with its motorcycle sales.

Let's start with the good news. Harley-Davidson reported third-quarter net income of 38 cents per share ($88.8 million) or 40 cents per continuing share, far better than last year's same-quarter earnings of 11 cents per share. What's more, these results topped the consensus estimate of 35 cents per share. The company was even able to overcome poor quarterly sales because of it financial services division and cost-cutting efforts.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the global financial system may be the biggest hindrance to a worldwide economic recovery. The IMF used its global financial stability report to make this announcement, one that suggests there isn't a lot of stability thanks mainly to the global financial system.

The IMF estimated that the writedowns attributed to the credit crisis were $2.2 trillion, lower than the $2.3 trillion originally projected in April.

This morning, the Commerce Department announced that the economy grew at a slower pace than previously thought in the April-to-June period. The gross domestic product grew at a 1.6% rate during the period, revised down from an initial estimate of 2.4%, and far slower than the 3.7% pace in the first quarter. Yet Wall Street actually sighed in relief because investors and economists had expected an even worse number.

Despite the euphoria on the Street over the not-as-bad-as-expected numbers, we are still faced with a stark reality as the economy has lost "significant momentum" lately. In fact, most believe that the third quarter will hold similarly weak growth.

The Labor Department announced Thursday morning that U.S. consumer prices dropped 0.2% in May. May was the second-straight month in which prices dropped, as prices fell 0.1% during April as well. The price drop was precipitated by a 2.9% drop in energy prices, a result of lower gasoline prices.

Although energy prices dropped, the core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, increased 0.1%. This slight increase was only the second monthly increase this year, and it matched the consensus estimate.

The Labor Department issued a bit of a nasty surprise this morning in its report on initial jobless claims. Last week, the department issued 25,000 new claims for unemployment benefits, far more than the expected drop of 6,000 claims. The resulting 471,000 total claims in the past week was the most in a month.

In addition, the four-week average of initial claims, which many see as a better gauge of employment because it smooths out the volatile weekly numbers -- increased. According to the Labor Department, there were no unusual factors contributing to the release.

I don't know if any one out there can say he or she saw yesterday's plunge coming. Was the plummet based solely on a fat-fingered typing mistake? Was it based solely on concerns over the health of the Greek economy? Was it caused by rumors that Germany may pull out of the eurozone? I don't know if we will be able to specify one problem, but one thing is sure in the wake of yesterday's drop -- fear is as prominent as ever on the Street.

On down days in the markets, one generally expects to see a rally in commodities, as they are often deemed a safe haven for investors. This wasn't the case yesterday as crude oil saw its three-day sell off extend itself to a 3.6% loss, bringing the closing price of black gold to $77.11 per barrel (crude is on pace to set its worst week since 2009).

• JPMorgan Chase (JPM): earnings of 74 cents per share; expectations for 60 cents per share
• Citigroup (C): a loss of six cents per share; expectations for a loss of 33 cents per share
• Goldman Sachs (GS): earnings of $8.20 per share; expectations for earnings of $5.20

Big Ben Bernanke is letting his opinions be known early in 2010, and he is pointing the finger of blame for the economic crisis right at weak regulation. Bernanke is waiting for confirmation of his second term as Fed chair and he is looking for greater regulatory authority from Congress.

Bernanke told the American Economic Association that "Stronger regulation and supervision aimed at problems with underwriting practices and lenders' risk management would have been a more effective and surgical approach to constraining the housing bubble than a general increase in interest rates." This statement was part of Bernanke's response to accusations that the Fed was a major contributor to the financial crisis. The Fed head believes that the interest rates set by the Federal Reserve from 2002 to 2006 were appropriate.