Three Days of Losses, TGIF

Tough week if you were holding stocks and equities. Since Wednesday the Dow Jones is down 1.48%, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ both fell 2.5%.

Thus the reason the Masters have been preaching holding a 50% cash position.  Happy Friday, there is no free lunch, but now our newsletter Master Picks is free. 

(iStockAnalyst.com) - Stocks seesawed Friday after weaker-than-expected reports on durable goods orders and new home sales touched off worries about the strength of a recovery in the economy.

Investors were disappointed to hear that durable goods orders unexpectedly fell in August. The second drop in three months shows any rebound in manufacturing is likely to be slow.

The Commerce Department said orders for goods expected to last at least three years fell 2.4 percent, after increasing 4.8 percent in July. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, forecast a 0.5 percent increase.

The drop was due primarily to a sharp fall in demand for commercial aircraft, a highly volatile portion of the orders report. Even excluding aircraft and other transportation goods, orders were flat in August. Economists had been predicting a rise 0.5 percent in that number as well.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said sales inched up to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 429,000 last month from a downwardly revised 426,000 in July. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a pace of 440,000.

Disappointing quarterly results from BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. are weighing on the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index.

Traders are also watching a meeting of leaders from the world's 20 largest economies in Pittsburgh for indications of how those governments plan to bring about a strong, sustainable recovery.

Who cares at this point, its Friday, enjoy Masters.

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