For my own edification – and the knowledge of the group – could we get a consensus on the dates and the import of:

1. When the end-of-year is for investment banks and hedge funds for the sake of bonus computation? I've heard end of September some places and end of October in others;
2. What the significance of tomorrow's OPEX is? Again, in this context, I've heard that today (the penultimate day of the month) is the last one that matters, but perhaps that's wrong.

Thank you!

Well, the consumer confidence report came out for the month, and while the consensus from the experts was a level between 55 and 60, the actual figure, 53.1, was below even the lower part of the range. Word on the street is that the general public isn't buying all the green shoots B.S. My own portfolio screen flipped from red to green in the span of about 3 seconds after the report came out.

Some days I have the time and energy and creativity to make Slope feel like SNL in 1987, and there are other times – like Monday – when it seems like SNL 1981. Joe Piscopo, get off my computer!

I'm catching up on charts (which seems to be taking place at Dracula-like hours lately); it's apparent from /ES that 1061 is the line in the sand. If we can stay below it, things look good for the bears short-term; and if we can actually get below 1035, things look very good medium-term.

I appreciate everyone putting up with my absence this afternoon. I remain handicapped, since I not only am away from my computer, but the one that I do have has a letter that does not function (the letter, by definition, I cannot type to you, but it is the first letter of my last name…..so I'm discovering how many words have this letter and I am having to be very creative in coming up with synonyms). Grrrrrrr…………

So, now that I am dealing with a 25-character alphabet, and a lame-o little laptop, let me pose this question: what do you imagine are some extraordinary things that might happen in our society if equities wend their way down from their current levels down to – I dunno – 6,000 on the Dow over the course of a few years. I am no speculating on the effects of a crash; I am opening up the idea of a multi-year grind down, as I've often postulated.

And I'm not that interested in hearing about pitchforks and torches. Some ideas I have include:

• Renewed violent acts directly associated with financial distress;
• Multiple congressional sessions where "wrongdoers" are dragged in front of television cameras and made to wring their hands (such as we did with all the Wall Street types about nine months ago, as well as the auto manufacturers who flew in on private jets, and so forth);
• Similar congressional sessions where Federal Government members themselves are forced to wring their hands in front of a bloodthirsty public (Geithner, Bernanke, and so forth)
• A totally surprising political shift, such as what now seems beyond imagination – – Obama as a one-term president.
• Cramer getting fired or – even more extreme – CNBC shutting down altogether.

I would be interested to hear your ideas. I would also be interested in a fully functional keyboard, but you can't help with that. {Note: how did I manage to use the letter k when it is missing? I found a page that had it and did cut/paste; I am truly the MacGyver of broken laptops).

I have a series of meetings to attend, so I'm not going to do a post for a few hours. Strange day on the market today, eh? Absolutely no news, a major market holiday (volume-wise), and yet big gains all around. Good thing I had all those long hedge positions; those were a big help!

Anyway, there are a ton of great comments, so tawk amongst yerselves, and I'll do a post late this afternoon.