Markets Down at Opening

Wall Street took a pause from its recent rise to open the trading week, following a global pullback.

In the first 15 minutes of trading, the Dow is down half of 1 percent.

The broader S&P 500 is down slightly less and the tech-heavy Nasdaq is down about one-quarter of 1 percent.

The question to be debated now is: Has this been an investors' market or a traders' market? Many think it's been a traders' markets, which means it's been rising because traders have been pushing it up for its own sake, seeking profits in arbitrage.

An investors' market would be one that has been rising because the underlying fundamentals of the economy have been pushing it upward. With unemployment near 10 percent and rising, I'm guessing it's been more of a traders' market.

We'll find out more in coming weeks as companies' third-quarter earnings come out, telling us more about the underlying state of the economy.

-- Frank Ahrens
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