How bad is it out there? One index suggests spillover from Europe's sovereign crisis has pushed US financial conditions to their worst since the Lehman Brothers aftermath.

In the second quarter, the US Monetary Policy Forum's Financial Conditions Index fell to minus-1.82, its lowest since the fourth quarter of 2008, says Deutsche Bank. The index tracks 45 variables, including credit and yield spreads, stock-market data, banks' desire to lend and consumer perceptions. Although it remains above the minus-2.5 to minus-3.5 reached in the depths of the crisis, it has slid from minus-1.29 in the first quarter.