Largely led by silver, corn and copper, commodities are on their way to their biggest weekly loss since 1956, as concerns over the weakening global economy, along with the surging U.S. dollar against the euro, continue to put downward pressure on the sector.
The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index dropped by 9.9 percent so far this week, again, its largest downward move in 52 years.
Two major factors are delayed weakness of the European market, which is just starting to show its strains, as well as the softening Chinese housing market. The overall U.S. market is of course further along than the two economies mentioned, and is already partaking in the pain.
As far as corn, copper and silver, they all have dropping to their largest weekly losses in over 20 years. The 18 percent fallout of silver is its worst performance for a week since 1983.
The labor department also released jobless claims figures for the week ending September 27, and they're the worst since 2001. That puts the jobless rate at about a five-year high of 6.1 percent.
It is spurring more debate on whether it's wise to implement a bailout plan which not only won't help in these difficult times, but will exasperate the problem, as history has taught us.
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