Economic Clouds gather at Wall Street

[Neil D]

This economic news just in.....

[:"blue"]The last week brought a much weaker-than-expected retail sales report for March, a record $61 billion trade deficit for February, as well as disappointing earnings from IBM (Research) that hit the tech sector -- and the broader market -- Friday.

Lackluster reports on consumer confidence and manufacturing Friday also worried markets and economists.

Suddenly there is talk that the Fed might have to at least pause its policy of regular quarter-point rate hikes at its June meeting due to weakness, said economist Greg Valliere of the Stanford Washington Research Group. He said a week ago the debate was whether the Fed would get more aggressive on hikes to cool off the economy and inflationary pressures.

"That's a really dramatic shift," he said. "The fear in the market (is) we're looking at less robust growth than people were thinking only a month ago." [/]

CNN money