Up and Down Wednesday for The Street

American markets saw both ends of the spectrum on Wednesday as a flurry of economic data and commentary were on Trader minds. Oil Inventory data was out for morning trading and the fall of inventory by 4.8Million barrels seemed to initially lead the markets higher. Tech was in the drivers seat for most the day as the Nasdaq finished higher by almost 1%.

But by mid-day the party was over and the Financials and Energy led the decline. Oil prices continued to sell-off with Crude prices fell to $122/barrel. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke with some conviction about the Fed's view on inflation, and in the world of rising food prices and high oil there should be no surprise inflation is on the mind of the Federal Reserve.

Traders sold off heavily in the early afternoon after digesting the economy data and commentary leading the Dow Jones average from a gain of 100 points to a 50 point decline before ending the data just about at the flat line (.1% lower).

For the financials, this stance of 'inflationary concerns' doesn't bode well as traders were already exhibiting some heavy selling pressure on the sector. With the latest round of earnings coming from the sector and several executive shuffles (see Wachovia (WB)) there doesn't seem to be much optimism on the Street for a financial turnaround in the near term.