CHINA AND EUROPE CRUSH THE US MARKET: Here's What You Need To Know

The name of the game is the deteriorating situation in Europe, which really got going late last week. Let's roundup the horror show quickly. On Friday evening, S&P lowered its outlook for Italian credit, totally clobbering that market. Over the weekend, incumbents got crushed in Spain and Germany. Greek yields are blowing out the wazoo, as the government attempts to rush out new privatization/austerity measures. Ugly all around. Markets crushed, especially the core! Click here for the full guide to the Spanish debt crisis  >

• Meanwhile in China, the latest HSBC flash PMI was weak, confirming fears of a China slowdown. Shanghai shares got killed, falling about 3%. Japan also had a really horrendous night. Click here to see the full China bull/bear debate >

• In the US, the news is actually quiet. Earnings season is done, and there was no major macro data today, although the Chicago Fed Index was once again mediocre.

• In the end, things were down down down. The euro fell to fresh lows against both the gold and the Swiss Franc.

• Not surprisingly: big-time momentum names like the Chinese internet stocks (RenRen and Sina) got demolished. LinkedIn also got hit hard after yesterday's madness. Conversely, a surprise winner was Netflix,