It’s a jarring start to the week with the market struggling early on after inheriting a tidal wave of global weakness.  The narrative, however, is while the rest of the world is weak and vulnerable, is there a moat around America?

An even more precise question is why the American economy isn’t a backstop to global economic slowdown or actually pulling it out of its doldrums?  That used to be the role of America.

This selloff isn’t about a 25 basis point rate hike, but the Fed compounding its premature rate hike with more hikes beginning in March.  They seem willing to ignore the data while pledging to use it as a guide.

Red Flag:  Decline in financials, touted last year as the place to be as the Fed was prepared to tighten, have been a disaster.  Sure, exposure to oil company debt is worrisome but probably something else is ­­­­­amiss too.

Yellow Flag: Consumer discretionary stocks are huge losers this year and that doesn’t jive with the notion wages are rising rapidly coupled with cheap gas prices.   Staples have held up, but people have more disposable cash than before the correction (in part to a massive reduction in credit card debt and lost homes), but they are loathing spending.

Positive signs:  Despite Chesapeake Energy fighting speculation of impending bankruptcy, oil and oil stocks are doing well today.

It’s unclear what would turn the market around today, and I don’t mind if it flushes out even more.  Again, it’s not about value or price as much as timing for many names like those that a few days ago were higher on great company news now getting smacked like everything else.