The major indexes bounced between the red and the black in a volatile session, reaching their lows after the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis said the U.S. is close to entering a deflationary economy such as the one which plagued Japan in the 1990s. The Dow lost 30 points, the Nasdaq fell 12, and the S&P 500 declined by 4. Nineteen of the Dow's 30 components lost ground. Volume was light on the NYSE and moderate on the Nasdaq. Advancing and declining issues ran neck and neck. The prices of Treasuries were mixed and gold futures slipped lower by 0.1% to $1,169.90 an ounce. The price of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange climbed 1% to $78.23 a barrel.

In Earnings News

- Motorola announced earnings increased from 1 cent a share a year ago to 7 cents a share in the latest quarter. The results beat the Street's expectations, and shares of the company (MOT), which plans to break itself in two early in 2011, fell 0.9% in today's session.

- ExxonMobil reported earnings increased from 81 cents a share a year ago to $1.60 a share in the latest quarter. Revenue rose by 24% as crude oil and many product prices have risen since last year. The results beat the Street by almost 15 cents a share and the stock (XOM) lost 0.9%.

- Southwest Airlines announced earnings increased from 12 cents a share a year ago to 15 cents a share in the latest quarter. Traffic increased 2% and revenue rose 21%. The price of the shares (LUV) were unchanged.

- Kellogg announced earnings fell from 92 cents a share a year ago to 79 cents a share in the latest quarter. Sales fell 4%, hurt by a weak pricing environment for breakfast cereal and lower sales of Eggo products. The company reduced its earnings estimates for the year and the price of the shares (K) lost 6%.

In Other Business News

- New claims for jobless benefits fell by 11,000 last week to 457,000, according to the Labor Department. The four-week moving average, which tends to be less volatile than the weekly numbers, also fell. Economists generally were expecting a smaller decline.

- Toyota announced it would recall 417,000 cars and SUVs in North America to repair potential steering problems. The recall includes Avalon and Lexus models. Toyota's shares (TM) gained 0.2% in today's session.

- Mortgage rates fell to last week to the fifth record low in 6 weeks. The average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate loan edged down from 4.56% to 4.54%, according to Freddie Mac, which has been keeping the data since 1971.

*****

What is it about lists that we never tire of them? The nation's sweatiest cities! The best communities to settle in if you suffer from sleep deprivation! Etc.! Here's one from the news this week. Bloomberg News and Business Week combined to produce a list of the laziest states. According to the study, Louisiana is the laziest and North Dakota is the least lazy because some data somewhere indicate that on average people in Louisiana watch 3 hours and 5 minutes of TV, socialize for 54 minutes and relax for 29 minutes a day, while North Dakotans watch 2 hours and 19 minutes of TV, socialize for 40 minutes, and relax for 22 minutes. Hmmm. Is this useful? Not to me, because the differences are so small as to be meaningless. The problem is that state borders are not relevant to the question, and the study is divided into states only because state governments gather the data.

The truth is that the laziest states are not states of the union, but states of being. Here are my laziest states of being – moments when it's all but impossible to stand up, wipe the crumbs off my chin, button my shirt, and put my left foot in front of my right:

1. I'm lying in my hammock, it's 95 degrees, and it's time to mow the lawn. (Is that a headache I'm feeling? Probably heat stroke. Best to lie down.)

2. It's parent's day at the school, a time when all the moms and dads can walk through their children's class schedules and hear the teachers lecture about the year ahead. Kathy says to me: "Hurry up and finish your coffee. We want to get there early so we can sit in the front row of Clara's physics class." (Is that a headache I'm feeling? Physics can do that. Better have another donut.)

3. It's time to fill out my annual self-evaluation performance report for work, you know the one – it asks me to list at least five steps I will take in the coming year to improve my productivity and by how much, it instructs me to list what I believe are my main weaknesses and explain in detail using the accompanying sheets of paper when necessary, and it asks me to identify an achievement of the past year that gave me great satisfaction if any. (Ouch. Headache. Sit back down, breath deeply, grab another coffee, and maybe sneak one of those Hershey's Kisses that Marigold O'Shaughnessy keeps on her desk.)

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