"Ugh, it's only Thursday."

Both statements are legitimate ways of looking at the world. But they sure bring you to different conclusions. Traders have spent the entire night taking a dour view of every piece of news. And I guess if your focus is Chinese equities, that's understandable. But, that aside, it just doesn't feel right. And it will be interesting to see if this mood lasts the day. It has barely started and I'm dying to see how it ends.

In case you haven't looked, equity indexes in China got harpooned. They went up in a bubbly frenzy and came down today in just as dramatic fashion. The CSI 300 got most of the press, but still remains well up on the year.

No one likes getting caught on the wrong side of a move like this, but in the long run, taking out some of the froth might prove a healthy development all around. What's interesting is how modest the knock-on effects to European markets and U.S. futures was compared with what you might ordinarily expect. And that is bullish. One trader's view that the SPX couldn't maintain the break above its resistance zone yesterday, is another's being impressed how well futures have held in there so far today.

The economic numbers that have come out overnight have, mostly, been pretty good. The market seemed inclined to pick out the portions that could cast them in a less flattering light. Australian unemployment was a beat. Even if heavily influenced by part-timers. But the unemployment rate ticked up. And that got the attention. No matter that the participation rate was higher. The U.K. number was solid. And they sold into it. And of course in China, a really good GDP lost out to a retail sales miss and their largest liquor producer coming under official criticism. If you owned that stock today, it did prove alcohol in excess can be bad for your health.