I feel a hundred times better about the market than I did, oh, about four hours ago. Today went great.
My gold shorts (which were really aggressive) performed fantastic. My
SSO position was a bomb until the last hour of the day, when it was
sensational. And, having closed that long position, I got back
into the bear's game again and bought a substantial $RUT put position
when the IWM was near the day's highs.

This week has been a
psychological roller coaster. I know many of you feel the same way.
I'll be doing a post late tonight (I solemnly swear!). Thank you.

The SPY has been struggling mightily, but it's finally (with 55 minutes left in the day; I always have to qualify these statements!) getting some strength. It's index expiration day, and all eyes have been on GS, MS, and the rest of the financial sector. I'm looking forward to doing a long post this evening. I just wanted to pop my head into the blog and provide a really quick update and comment-cleaner.

VIX topped out an 42.16, which I believe is a record for the VIX (since the calculation was changed in 2003, only the past five years should be considered).

What. A. Day.