Watch the Research Ripples - Art Cashin on CNBC

Art Cashin is the best source of what people on the NYSE floor are thinking.  In our office, someone will sing out "Art's on!" and we pay attention.  We are not saying that he is always right in his opinions.  We believe he is an excellent source of information.  He talks to traders and knows what worries them.

His interview today shows the signficiance of what we have been writing about Wall Street Research.  He does not comment directly on that subject very often, nor did he do so today.  But take a look at the interview and I'll connect the dots after the market closes.

Here are some of his comments in an interview with Erin Burnett -

Art:  ...the transports have been the weakest of the whole lot.
Erin:  ...What's going on there.  Some have said...if we can't get the transports to recover we're not going to get the market to rise either.
Art:  Absolutely.  [goes on to show double top]  The most recent top was on May 10th.  They have gone straight down since then....That's an indication, at least a hint to us, that maybe the economy IS weaker than people think.  If you and I are not buying things...and having them shipped on FedEx and overnight then the transports will be weak.  They are down 20% and have frightened other markets.

So Art is saying that traders are viewing the weakness in the transports as an indication that the economy will be weak.  Many of them place more weight on that information than any written forecast or report.

So what are the factors behind the weakness in transports?  [to be continued]