A quick glance at the calendar this week and an instant case of nausea should set in. The week is not only overloaded with reports, but only a few are expected to show improvement.

The currencies rally back! …  The risk takers are back! …  Mixed bag of economic reports…  A “cross thing” for sterling… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

The economic calendar is unusually light this week, with only the ISM Index reporting on Friday. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the report will likely show a decline from the previous month. It has been an overriding theme this year that even though the bar gets set lower and lower as the months go by, the market still manages to underestimate the scope of the economic slowdown and reports continue to disappoint.

Now that the turkey-induced coma has worn off, it’s time for the market to get back to work. Heading into the final month of the year, we could hope for an early Christmas present and a strong rally, but that will be a tall order.

Both the ISM Index and ISM Services reports come out this week, and it looks like the slide continues. The Index report coming out this morning is likely to show a drop to 42.0 from last month’s 43.5 reading.