The stock market started out weak and extended on the downside in the face of a round of much softer than expected US scheduled economic readings. In fact, with US retail sales down 1.2% and the regional Fed manufacturing readings released this morning were also very soft and therefore it appeared as if the threat of too much slowing served to countervail some of the flight to quality interest that was surfacing off the latest sharp slide in equity prices. Certainly seeing the US Dollar remain in positive ground limited the gold rally in the morning trade, but seeing the "headline" inflation readings in the PPI report actually decline was probably another force that served to limit the morning rally in gold prices.