braveheartsports via flickr
Another quiet day.
First the scoreboard:
Dow: 12,454, -74.9, -0.6%

S&P 500: 1,317, -2.8, -0.2%

NASDAQ: 2,837, -1.8, -0.0%

And now the top stories:
  • There was very little economic data worth reporting and not a whole lot of action in the stock markets.  It seems most traders and investors already checked out for the long weekend.
  • Europe continues to be in crisis as more people increasingly expect Greece to exit the eurozone in what could be a disorderly process that disrupts the trajectory of the global economy.  Morgan Stanley recently boosted its odds for Greek exit to 35 percent within 18 months. 

  • Earlier this afternoon, S&P announced its downgrade of five Spanish banks: Bankia S.A., Banco Financiero y de Ahorros S.A., Banca Civica S.A. (Civica), Banco Popular Espanol S.A. (Popular), and Bankinter S.A. 

  • In other news, bailed out bank Bankia is reportedly asking for more financial aid.  Meanwhile, the euro fell below $1.25, the lowest level since July 2010.  

  • The Facebook IPO flop saga continued.  Shares slumped 3.3 percent today.  Nasdaq, the exchange on which Facebook IPO'd, is dealing with its own public relations nightmare.

  • One positive bit of economic data was the May consumer confidence measure, which jumped to 79.3, the highest level since October 2007.  Economists were looking for the metric to stay relatively flat at 77.8.

  • Nevertheless, the tone from the experts continues to be cautious, if not outright bearish.  Marc Faber, author of the Gloom Boom And Doom Report said the odds of a global recession were 100 percent.

  • Tobias Levkovich, Citi's top U.S. equity strategist, thinks all this gloom is good for stocks.  According to Citi's proprietary contrarian Panic-Eurphoria model, panic is at such a high level that there is now a 96 percent chance will be higher 12 months from now.

  • If you must invest in stocks, Societe Generale's Dylan Grice argues that you should be in high quality dividend stocks.  

  • Have a safe long weekend.  If you're looking for something to do, you may consider reading one of the most important finance books ever written.