Some stories just have to be repeated. Like the one from Sweden that tells of a collapsing floor during a Weight Watchers weigh-in. As twenty or so dieters filled the room to measure the fruits of their effort, the floor beneath them rumbled then failed.

Priceless irony.

It proves Americans, especially us East Coasters, aren’t the only ones with size-management issues.

As the markets sink under their own weight today, I cannot help but think much the same is taking place on Wall Street. The equities market can only hold so much fat before it gives up support and comes crashing down.

I rarely use technical analysis as a primary analytical tool, but I will use the help of charts and lines to back up my opinion and help find out exactly where trouble may lie in the road ahead. Just like we don’t drive by staring at a roadmap, we can’t invest solely on the charts. But when you’re lost, there’s nothing like a quick glance at a map.

When I wrote to TFN Strategic Trader members this morning, I told them to watch the action of the S&P 500 closely. The key index hit the pivotal 1,150 mark yesterday and almost immediately turned the other direction.

It is a sign that investors need to prepare for a correction. We are seeing the front end of the action today as the markets give up more than 1% of their value.

If you are a frequent reader of Notes, the action is no surprise.

Only an economic fool believes massive government spending, bailouts and increased regulations will lead to a sustained rally.

There is no way current valuations will hold unless we get two things, more jobs and more credit. Everywhere I look, companies are begging for loans and laying off more employees.

Get this. Over the last decade, for every dollar this country saw in GDP growth, we took out $6.02 in additional credit.

Now that that credit has dried up and, even worse, has left massive holes in corporate balance sheets, there is no way we are going to realize higher valuations until we either restore credit or shake out all the marginal players.

According to the front page of my local newspaper, the latter is happening quicker and quicker. Just today we lost another major employer and a local restaurant. Even worse, a local school district is figuring out how to close a $200 million budget gap now that it has raised taxes as far as it legally can.

It’s the same kind of story all over the country.

It’s evident that investors are pulling their money out of stocks and putting it back into the safety of the Treasury market today as the yield on the 30-year plunged by double-digit proportions.  As much as investors hate America’s borrowing habits, Uncle Sam remains one of the strongest protectors of assets.

Until that changes, we aren’t going anywhere.

*** Don’t think the news out of JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) is any indication that we are on a path to recovery. This bank and its Wall Street brethren are raking in profits as the markets re-inflate after the credit bubble collapsed.

In fact, they’d love to see it pop once again as they hedge away their risk and profit no matter which way the market swings.

As long as they are covering all sides of the trades and have Washington chasing its regulatory tail, we are going to see these financial smartypants raking in huge profits and walking away with mouthwatering bonuses.

But their profits don’t say anything about small-town America’s ability to prosper. Instead, Wall Street’s profits show how volatile and dangerous it is to be trying to make a buck in this country.

If JPMorgan is making money, somebody else is losing it.

That’s why it’s great to be a contrarian investor. We don’t get fleeced with the herd.