Let's see...  What can we talk about other than tomorrow's FOMC events?  I sprinkled Fed references into headlines as early as last week because, apart from some surprise out of Europe (the REAL kind that we haven't seen in years), nothing else is of much interest.  From there, if we consider the fact that no single headline out of Europe is going to rock markets, we're pretty much left with the Fed. 

Before moving on, and to be clear, it's not that nothing in Europe can rock markets.  Indeed, simple tradeflow snowballs can provide their own justification for big movement.  I'm just trying to restore balance to the force by righteously marginalizing the Greek situation relative to its media coverage.  People, and even people who trade some money, can talk about how important it might be all they want, but the fact is that trading levels continue suggesting that old gray mare ain't what she used to be.

With that out of the way, let's get back to not talking about the Fed.  After all, the FOMC festivities don't begin until tomorrow.  It could even end up being one of those strangely unsatisfying Fed days with plenty of volatility with no real, new trend established.  So we'll say que sera to that and move on to something that is actually happening today.

How about Housing Starts?!  Long time, no housing chart.  So here you go.  Note the much sharper recovery in builder sentiment.  That's what happens when you have fewer builders selling fewer, bigger, more expensive homes in a supply-restricted market.  Meanwhile, it's no surprise that outright levels of Housing Starts haven't done nearly as much to return to pre-crisis levels. 

Just for kicks, check out the "fun fact."  Yes, this data had already fallen that much by 2007 when TV talking heads were still cheerleading.  That's not to say there weren't plenty of talking heads proclaiming housing doom and gloom, but the fact that anyone abstained is surprising in light of charts like this.