I really don't know what drives US markets sometimes. Today we had a Bloomberg report where US Treasury was called in to deny a blog report that 16 of the 19 banks being stress tested are insolvent. That report contributed to falls in the US market, although some poor company results didn't help.

Even more disturbing is Bloomberg's assertion: "Andrew Williams, a Treasury spokesman, dismissed the report from Hal Turner of North Bergen, New Jersey, "particularly given we don't have stress test results yet". Turner has advocated violence against blacks, Jews and immigrants on his website and internet radio show, according to the Anti-Defamation League, created in 1913 to monitor anti-Semitism."

Turner's Wikipedia entry has some alarming details. "Turner promotes antisemitism (including the rounding up and killing of Jews) and opposes the existence of the state of Israel. He also denies the Holocaust. In 2005, Turner organized what he billed as a "rally against violence" after a white student was beaten by a black student at a high school. In 2006, he got into a fight with Jaime Vazquez, a former Jersey City deputy mayor, after Vazquez called him a "racist coward". Turner has made numerous threats against political figures on his website and in other forums."

The real question is why a nut case and professional bigot like Turner have such an impact on the market. One reason is the FT Alphaville blog giving the report some credibility by calling it "something of a scoop". Sad really when newspapers get too lazy to double check and forget their responsibilities to readers. Maybe it's a sign of the times with the Internet spewing out morsels of information that may or may not be true.

At the same time, it highlights the tensions in the US market place now where everyone is jumping at shadows. It is a market filled with fear and uncertainty.