Get this: there have been 14 European Union crisis summits in the past 21 months.
Fourteen in less than two years!
Apart from people who've been in hibernation since early 2010, who doesn't know that Europe has a huge debt crisis? What's more, none of the fundamentals have changed for months.
Yet, the financial media attributes every price wiggle in U.S. stock markets to what's happening in Europe. Sure, rising Italian bond yields indicate that investors now demand a higher payment for assuming a higher risk.
But again: Who doesn't know that Italy is in poor financial health? Nonetheless, with U.S. markets down big today, we read these headlines:
"U.S. Stocks Slump as Italy Bond Yields Soar" -- Bloomberg
"U.S. stocks fall sharply on Europe’s continuing woes" -- Marketwatch
"Stocks Plunge as Italy Hits Danger Zone" -- thestreet.com
Just a day or two ago, the financial media was saying that the Dow Industrials were up because Italy Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi plans to step down.
This misleading back and forth has gone on since Europe's Debt Crisis began. But the crisis was a crisis during the July-August decline, and during the October rally. Nothing changed.
So why did the Dow Industrials fall nearly 400 points today? The short answer is, because the market likely turned at three degrees of trend on October 27.
The European debt crisis reflects the same psychology that's driving the deteriorating economic and financial trend -- but it's not the cause.
In fact, the recently published November Financial Forecast notes how EWI anticipated what is now unfolding in Europe:
"In December 2006, when U.S. and European financial stocks were two months from their all-time highs and Bulgaria and Romania were about to become the last two additions to the European Union, EWI published the following forecast:
"'Much of what’s come together in Europe will come apart in coming years.'"
The latest issue of the Financial Forecast presents a special section on Europe, and also offers you labeled charts to show the Elliott wave pattern in U.S. prices. The November issue shows you what to expect next.
Plus, Robert Prechter just published an Interim Elliott Wave Theorist which puts today's stock market plunge into perspective.