WASHINGTON – Wall Street took a major hit yesterday after shedding nearly all of its gains from the previous session.  The NASDAQ led the way down with a 1.56 percent (33.66 points) decline on the day.  The S&P 500 (1.47 percent, 15.67 points) and Dow Jones (1.39 percent, 140.92 points) also lost significant ground.  The DJIA now stands just above 10,000 points overall.

According to MarketWatch, the performance yesterday was seen all around the globe.  Investors from Tokyo to London have turned sour as U.S. data on consumer confidence and housing continue to lag behind where they ought to be.  Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin in London, stated that financial investors the world over are almost obsessed with the loss of recovery momentum in the United States. 

Private investors were calling on the U.S. government to get its hand off private industry and let the natural market take its course.  Now that the government has obliged this request and the private resurgence has fallen flat on its face investors are in a panic.  Analysts with CNNMoney.com expect the hangover from yesterday to linger into the morning in American markets today. 

In other news, while the private sector has proven incapable of creating a recovery on its own, some private businesses are leading the way in certain areas.  According to CNNMoney.com, private banks are providing more than twice as many mortgage modifications as the Obama administration and its Affordable Modification Program. 

Private banks have more money and manpower than any government could ever hope to control, so it should come as no surprise that they are leading the charge in loan modifications.   

Before the Obama administration created its loan modification program, banks were happy to simply foreclose on every delinquent borrower.  Now that incentives have been put in place by the government, and public opinion has swung against the idea of putting a recession stricken family out on the street, banks are finally coming around to treating their clients with a bit of decency. 

Rounding out the news, according to Reuters, with the withdrawal of troops in Iraq underway and on schedule some deficit hawks may turn to the bloated defense budget in their search for areas to make cuts. 

This is great news for the United States taxpayer.  Our military is by far the largest and most powerful in the world.  For generations the U.S. has relied almost completely on military prowess to dictate global policy.  However, this dominance has become too costly and unnecessary to continue supporting.  If we are faced with the choice between defunding an education or community program or slashing yet another useless portion of the defense budget, defense should be on the chopping block each and every time.

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