Few people would argue with the point that Thursday's trade was disappointing.  Those who would are short sellers, because they benefitted from the downdraft that saw the S&P 500 decline 1.6%.

Following the news that Warren Buffett made a $5 bln investment in Bank of America (BAC), many participants thought the equity market was poised to rally.  The futures market responded enthusiastically to the news, as did the stock of Bank of America and other financials.

The only thing is that the market never really started with a bang.  It was more like a bing that soon turned into a whimper as rumors began to swirl about Germany possibly losing its AAA rating.  Those rumors were eventually debunked, yet a renewed air of pessimism about Europe's debt problems had set in along with a sense of wonderment as to whether Mr. Buffett's investment in Bank of America was an encouraging or discouraging sign for the financials.

Per usual, time will be the ultimate judge, but as time passed yesterday anyway, the market didn't look all that enthused.  BAC, which was up 26% at one point, ended with a 9.0% gain.  The S&P 500 Financial sector, meanwhile, actually ended the day with a 0.5% decline.

That was then and this is now.  We start all over again today and the current indication from the futures market is that the cash market will likely start the session with a 0.8% decline.

This is the day everyone has been waiting for all week and not just because it is Friday.  This isn't an ordinary Friday for anyone on the East Coast awaiting Hurricane Irene's landfall this weekend and it isn't an ordinary Friday for market participants awaiting the Fed Chairman's speech on the economy at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.

The chairman's speech will begin at 10:00 a.m. ET.  We indicated yesterday that we don't think he will provide a blunt hint that QE3 is on the way.  Whether the market sees that as a true disappointment remains to be seen.  There have been enough reports this week downplaying the idea that he will hint at QE3, so the market in one sense is in hurricane mode itself.  That is, it is preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.

Not to be overlooked, though, is the storm across the Atlantic.  Once again, the market is finding reason to question the solidarity of EU members in dealing with the various bailout proposals, because leaders there cannot provide a clear, unquestioned sense of commitment to the proposals themselves.

Europe's problems may soon become the focal point again, particularly if Mr. Bernanke doesn't break any new ground in his speech.

The weakness in the S&P futures this morning stems in part from the dealings in Europe where major bourses, led by Germany (-2.7%), are lower across the board as investors worry about Greece balking at a prior debt swap agreement and political infighting in Germany.

Additionally, the second estimate for Q2 GDP didn't help this morning's cause, as it showed a downward revision from 1.3% to 1.0%.  The latter was slightly less than the Briefing.com consensus estimate of 1.1%.  Importantly, though, it was another reminder that the U.S. economy isn't growing fast enough to bring down the unemployment rate in a material way.

Personal consumption, nonresidential investment, and government spending were all revised higher and offset a portion of the negative revisions to the change in private inventories and net exports.

The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment reading for August (Briefing.com consensus 55.8; prior 54.9) will hit the wires around 9:55 a.m. ET.  It won't be long at all, though, before that report takes a backseat to the headlines flowing out of Jackson Hole.

This could be a freaky Friday before it is all said and done, only we don't have a good sense of whether freaky means good or bad.

--Patrick J. O'Hare, Briefing.com

Patrick J. O'Hare is Chief Market Analyst for Briefing Research, Briefing.com's institutional research service. To request a free trial, please email researchsales@briefing.com.