4)Thouhts on the market over the past couple of months

As far as a trend being in place, the only trend that I feel can be truly ascertained at this point is the trend of overwhelming volatility.Although I will concede the bottom on the markets is closer than the tops, I think the foundation of our system has been exposed. The inherent weakness in the incessant corporate quest for greed ( or higher returns, which ever you prefer ) at all cost, has obscured the fiducial obligations of the corporations to the participants of the markets and to the determent of their own self interest.

With that being said, the only logical result is the mayhem we are experiencing now. I feel there are many different facets to the ills plaguing the markets now and it seems as though each one of them may ultimately need their turn at the confessional to confess their sins and come clean, as a way of wiping the slate clean and beginning again. It would seem that every facet to credit will have to eventually be exposed to rectify the damage that has been caused.

Have all the financial weapons of mass destruction on Wall Street been detonated yet? I'm betting not. I still think there is going to be a Private Equity implosion. These guys ( BlackStone, Cerberus...etc ) were doing deals, taking on enormous risk for standard gains? Credit Cards have not even really come into the picture yet but I just saw where MA lowered their 2009 by 15%. As I am writing this 10:13pm 11/5/08 the Nikkei is down -550 and the Hang Seng is down -1000. This is like a shark tooth stair step down, I don't think we have priced in the bottom yet.

I still favor fading the open, especially strong positive futures early in the morning, and stacking the shorts throughout the day before unwinding the positions before close.

This will turn one day, but again I don't think we have seen the bottom.