Abdullah Karatash

It was an old-school day.

It felt a lot like…August?

There was chatter that sales for pampers skyrocketed in the Wall Street area.

Stocks tanked trading down more than 4% at one point.

Treasury bonds surged higher in a flight to quality as the U.S. dollar battered virtually every other currency, closing at 1.35 against the Euro.

Corporate credit spreads blew out wider with spreads on AA-rated cash bonds widening some 30-40 basis points.

Lower tier and sub investment grade paper got hosed as accounts were looking to sell blocks of CCC rated paper

A few dealers are stuck with large long risk positions.

The Pope is in Germany and with the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) behind us most eyes are back on Europe's woes.

Over dinner last night with a Central Bank governor, it was interesting to learn about the very limited options for monetary policy at this point.

The onus seems to be on fiscal reforms and policy-makers.

There were all sorts of crazy rumors floating around the markets today.

There was more chatter on Euro-dollar swap lines and extraordinary Fed intervention to cut the swap rate.

There was another rumor of a bond fund in trouble (harbinger of an LTCM type meltdown?).

The reality is that if any sizeable bond fund were to lurch into danger territory, a bailout would be almost inevitable.

Whether or not there is any truth to the rumors is irrelevant at this point.

The fact that the rumors are circulating in the first place points to how jittery the market is.

Come Friday, players will be glad that this week is over.