Retail sales collapsed 16.4% in April, the largest single-month decline on record.
The only bright spots were online retailers and food and beverage stores, but food and beverage stores merely stole share from restaurants and bars.
Industrial production plunged as well, off 11.2% — its largest monthly drop. And, manufacturing output dropped 13.7%, also its largest decline ever. 
Capacity utilization fell to 64.9% – well below its 80% average rate.
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Futures were off well ahead of the data and have bounced back slightly going into the final stretch before the open. Notably, ES is back below its neckline at 2825.50ish.
SPX 2703 is obviously much further away at this point. This doesn’t mean it won’t be reached, but it does reduce the odds – at least on this OPEX Friday.
The dollar is still trying to get out of its own way…
…with USDJPY and EURUSD still treading water. 
Oil and gas continue melting up, with focus now shifting to the gaps well above current levels visible on the weekly charts. Downside targets are shown for reference only in case CL drops back through 26.05 or RB through .8975.
An alternative path for RB.
The biggest wild card continues to be VIX, which is back below its channel top after its very brief foray yesterday. Another breakout would open up 42.22 and 47.32, while remaining in the channel would prevent any substantial declines for stocks.
The line in the sand will probably be the SMA20 at 35.21.
The 10Y is getting hammered this morning on the economic news. The 2Y did as well, but has since bounced back from its 12.9 bps lows.
The 2s10s remains in bearish territory, but has yet to break down significantly.
ZN continues to push higher.
And, gold is taking another shot at breaking out.
Other equity indicators also hint at potential downside. AAPL has still broken down, though not by much.
It’s not yet enough to put a major dent in COMP’s rising channel. 
And, the Dow is still loitering below its 2.24 Fib after bouncing on its SMA50 — by all appearance more bearish.
There’s no question in my mind the SPX would have already tagged 2703 weeks or months ago had the Fed not intervened. Yet, it did…and stocks have continued to be propped up in the midst of truly horrid economic conditions.
It has little to do with analysts looking forward to improving earnings and everything to do with the level of cash being showered directly and indirectly on stocks. As such, it is very difficult to know when the next rescue effort will be mounted. Down 1%? 2%? 0.50%?
SPX’s SMA10 crossed above its SMA20 on Apr 6. The market gapped much higher and proceeded to rally 466 points (18.7%.) Yesterday, the SMA10 came within about 4 points of crossing back below the SMA20, but the ridiculous algo-led ramp prevented it and the gap is widening.
Clearly, the Fed et al have a big stake in preventing any further downside and are doing everything in their power – whatever it takes. In the time it has taken me to type the above, ES has trimmed its decline by 30 points and VIX is now showing a miserly 1.13% rise — unbelievable given the scale of the economic carnage.
The next test is consumer sentiment which comes out at 10AM.
UPDATE: 10:00 AM
Pretty ridiculous, but consumer sentiment actually ticked slightly higher MoM.
UPDATE: 3:30 PM
As we head into the close, TPTB have kept SPX pegged at TL resistance but below the SMA10 all day long. 
Other interesting tidbits… USDJPY never broke out.
Nor did AAPL.
And, VIX has fallen only enough to keep SPX barely in the green.
Most interesting…DJI is still below its 2.24 and its SMA10 and SMA20. And, get this: the bearish 10/20 cross which occurred yesterday is still in effect.
Anything could happen over the weekend. But, for now, nothing has happened to thwart the downside case.