Overview: The retreat in US stocks yesterday, coupled with disappointing earnings news, has sent equity markets lower today. However, the May Day holiday has closed most markets, warning of spill-over at the start of next week, though China's markets are closed through next Tuesday and Japan through next Wednesday. In the Asia-Pacific region, only two bourses were open, and they both were sold aggressively. Australia's benchmark fell 5%, and the Nikkei slid 2.8%. In Europe, the UK is open, and the FTSE 100 is off around 2% in late morning turnover. US shares are heavy,