The stock market posted its biggest plunge following a presidential election following the biggest gain on a presidential election. This isn’t terribly surprising; volume was low from the start as the markets were red out of the gate; with all 2 major indices dropping over 5%. The slide halted an 18% rebound from the S&P 500’s five-year low on Oct. 27. The Dow plummeted 5.05%, the Nasdaq fell 5.53%, while the S&P 500 dropped 5.27%.

Morning Outlook

The global markets reacted to continuing signs of a global slowdown and the selloff in U.S. markets. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index fell 2.6%, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 5.8%, dropping for the first time in four days.

U.S. futures look to open to the downside as the markets come back to reality, focusing on the economic and financial news of the day. Dow futures are down 85 points, Nasdaq declining over 25 points, and S&P futures dropped 12.

Corporate News

Wells Fargo & Co.(WFC) the biggest bank on the U.S. West Coast, plans a $10 billion offering of common stock after agreeing to buy Wachovia Corp. last month.

News Corp. cut its fiscal 2009 forecast, saying profit will decline in the low to mid teens on a percentage basis because of tumbling advertising sales. Look for similar struggles from the NBC arm of General Electric (GE) as I have stated in my Value Trades.

Toyota, the world’s second-largest automaker, forecasted their biggest drop in profit in at least 18 years

Cliff Watch

Oil dropped 7% after the EIA Petroleum Status Report showed fuel stockpiles growing as demand in the world’s top consumer slowed further…Shocking!

Economic Calendar

The Bank of England unexpectedly cut the benchmark interest rate by 1.5% this morning; am move much greater than anyone had expected. The bank rate now stands at 3%. As a result, the pound lost significant ground in the currency trade.

8:30 AM
Jobless Claims: New unemployment claims for the week of November 1st, to show the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance. The fewer people filing for unemployment benefits, the more have jobs, the more income in the consumer’s pocket, as well as a forecast on the strength of the economy. The consensus is for an increase of 480K, 20 thousand greater than last week’s estimate.

Productivity and Costs: Productivity measures the growth of labor efficiency in producing the economy’s goods and services for the 3rd quarter. Unit labor costs reflect the labor costs of producing each unit of output. Productivity growth is critical because it allows for higher wages and faster economic growth without inflationary consequences. The consensus change in nonfarm productivity is 0.8%, while a consensus change in unit labor costs of 2.8%.