Market Finance Time

According USATody energy and financial shares paced Wednesday’s broad market slide after downbeat December retail sales offered the latest confirmation of a deepening recession.

“Energy prices are coming down real hard on fears of a global recession,” said Linda Duessel, equity strategist at Federated Investors Inc. “The fact that the price of oil keeps coming down really underlines it’s global, and it’s severe.”

The depth of the recession could be seen in recent economic data as well.

“When you look at the reports this week, trade balance, the decline in retail sales, the decline in import prices, you realize how deeply mired the U.S. economy is in a recession,” said Hugh Johnson, chairman of Johnson Illington Advisors. “It requires the help of the Federal Reserve, and we’ve gotten some; it requires the help of government, and it appears it needs more help, and more help is on the way. The problem is nobody knows if it’ll work, and nobody knows what the formula is for ending it.”