and toothpicks, and then some people saying i don t want to try the cake because my mouth will get hurt. that s what is going on. this is something that we have been seeing over the last few weeks. is this really any different than the turmoil we have been witnessing? i think ali is spot on. you think back to just before the huge selloff and volatility last week, we had our own numbers that showed we had almost no growth. we have a new manufacturing number today, a regional manufacturing number that really hit investors hard. some analysts say it s a reliable number because it s a fresher number. this number is about manufacturing in august. the index was actually at one of the low points, and the drop was what analysts call stunning and saying it never has been this low without leading to a recession. when you hear things like that, especially with manufacturing considered one of the engines of growth in this country, that s also why you see investors sell at this point.
anderson. he was giggle. that s the first time i have ever seen him completely lose it. it was funny. a lot to talk about this morning. we have breaking news. a suicide truck bomber targeting the u.s. military base in afghanistan. it happened in the city of gardez a few hours ago. officials say the truck ripped through the main security gate. killed two afghan guards. nine others were hurt. and the taliban is taking credit for the attack. less than two weeks after downgrading america s aaa credit rating standard and poor s is the target of a justice department investigation. that s according to the new york times. the feds want to know how the credit rating agency somehow missed the mortgage crisis. you will remember s&p along with the other major credit agencies gave those mortgage backed securities very high ratings. even though would now know they weren t worth the paper they were printed on. the times is reporting the justice department is looking into claims