Well, the event in my life which will impact Slope today (it's not a body part) is the Series 65 examination. I'm taking it shortly after the close.
I've been studying for it with this absolutely dreadful book. The author seems to think he's terribly funny (in a knee-slapping, yuk-yuk kind of way), and I can't imagine any style more grating or distracting for a subject like this. Strangely, it's just about the only book on the topic. My dislike for the author's style was amplified by the fact that he suggests technical analysts are "fools." If somehow I manage to pass this test, I'm recycling this bad boy, pronto.
So the bottom line is that I'm going to disappear after the close for a long time; it won't matter quite as much, since you good people aren't quite the chatty Cathys you are on non-Fridays. But you've been warned.
As for the week as a whole, it looks like most indexes are going to put a 9th nail into their hoped-for bearish coffin. The $NDX might well be the exception.
The constitution of my portfolio (except for, sigh, the heroic and increasingly-irksome IRA) is tilted quite bearish, but the size of the portfolio is very muted. I don't have any honkin' big positions. The last nine weeks have taught me to really keep the risk tame, and until we've got an honest-to-God break (not a "gee this looks like it could break"), I'll continue to stay mild instead of wild.
