There is no way to sugar coat it or paint a rosy picture. This week could be disastrous for the market. Coming off eight straight down trading days, and the largest weekly percentage drop in the history of the Dow, the economic calendar provides no relief.

The much-ballyhooed battle between Citigroup Inc. (C) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) ended with a whimper Friday, as Citi gave up its pursuit of the assets of Wachovia Corp. (WB) – the Charlotte-based lender that was undermined by its broad exposure to subprime assets.

After watching its shares plunge more than 20% over the past month, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) decided to embrace a different strategy with regards to its looming third-quarter profit report: It opted to get out in front of the flood of corporate earnings reports that are headed this way by providing Wall Street with a preview of its third-quarter results.

The equities market is overflowing with rumors, bad news, and speculation of pain to come. Yesterday’s huge drop hurt and it may continue for at least part of the day today. But there is a glimmer of hope, says Andrew Snyder in Today’s Financial News.

There’s a lot of fear in the markets these days. Jittery investors are glued to the news, waiting for the next item to trigger a move in equities. But WaveStrength Options Weekly editor Adam Lass says the most important information is usually buried way below the headlines. He says checking these ‘hidden’ details is a great way for contrarian investors to find the big profit opportunities.