We arrived at the beach house last night by ferry .The winds and cold air were a real reminder that winter is just around the corner.Having not been here in a few weeks,it has clearly retreated to the quiet desolate island with its 49 year round residents.The boardwalks are empty,95% of the shops,restaurants and bars are closed,the tourists are no-where to be found,and the deer have come out of hiding again.People are scarce and I really don't mind it at all.

My favorite year round bar CJ’s is empty except for the few locals stopping in for a quick beer or a bite to eat.The police department is down to 4 full time officers,the Chief,the Sergeant,and two rotating officers from the summer months roster to keep “peace” in the community as we wait for next Spring.(LOL)

In my own strange warped way I still prefer the stillness and tranquil surroundings during the off-season vs the chaotic wild west atmosphere of the summer,even though I could never live out here year round.In fact after only 2 days on the Island,a sort of depressing feeling takes over that makes tomorrows ferry ride back to the mainland a pleasure to look forward to

The different thing about this weekend though is my in-laws are coming out to stay the night.My wife's sister from South Carolina is also in New York as we are celebrating their mothers 80th birthday.I am married for 26 yrs and still remember the first day I met her.While many have their in-law/family horror stories …..I really must say that she has been a delight over the years.Although she is still very close with my wife,she has always kept enough distance as to not interfere with my own family,the children,or any personal issues that so many nosey mother-in-laws seem to thrive on.Her family values and warm sentimental persona are very unique,and have truly have grown to love and appreciate her.Happy 80th Mom!

As to my father in law.....that's a whole other subject

BTW market rallied back to the 8000 level after a warm welcome for incoming Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was met with a 500 point rally on Friday.

GL,
Stephen
www.ProTradersEdge.com

After retiring almost 3 years ago from Wall Street,it seemed like I would quickly turn into a 40- something type bum,a simple life so to speak.Hang out at the beach house during the summer,play LIVE poker at my leisure,spend more time with my family,drink heavily,{insert childish behavior }) ........you kinda' get the picture.

However its been anything but that .After starting out the first couple of months after retirement playing in a bunch of live tournaments,I quickly realized that traveling,being stuck in a hotel room alone,and the variance involved in tournament play was not for me.Even after being net positive $$$ wise,the idea was nixed immediately.

I then proceeded to spend about 3 months at the beach house doing nothing constructive,laying in the sun,lounging in my hot tub,walking barefoot around town wearing shorts,a t-shirt,and riding my bike continuously circling the entire 12 bar/restaurant route on the small 1/2 mile island.I would rinse and repeat that scene each day until I finally realized my health,body hygiene,and liver would not make it.Along with the boredom of being the only person at my age laying around all day it became apparent I needed something more stimulating.

It was then time to go buy myself a present.I mean WTF?........I worked 25+ yrs and certainly deserved to treat myself to a new toy.My son and I went to my Lexus dealer,dressed in the same beachwear I had become so used too (I did have flip flops on though).Within 45 minutes we were driving out TWO brand new vehicles.........a 2006 Lexus SC 430 convertible and 2006 GX 470Truck.My wife thought I was insane,as we already had a fleet of cars for the family,but my 22 year old son thought this was better than slice bread.Another $150K of cars in my driveway starting collecting dust as I probably drive less than 4 miles a week

Fast forward to Labor Day weekend of 2007 . I came up with another brainstorm, deciding to possibly start trading again.Yes folks , I hadn't looked at a screen,stock quote,financial newspaper in almost a year ,even though I was still heavily invested in the stock market.I knew most traders come back from their summer retreats in September and figured it would be as good a time period as any.

The only difference this time was that I would now be trading alone in my house/office.No colleagues,no fellow traders,no screaming and yelling,.......nothing.As my wife has a great job and still works,and both children are finishing college,the only living contact was my new Bull Mastiff puppy.At first it was great,but the quiet non-interaction between people was getting to me and decided to join a few stock chat rooms.In fact 2+2 had a finance section where I truly enjoyed talking,chatting,and helping others.Most of the rooms were filled with amateurs /newbies but I really didn't mind at all.There were also many fraud wannabees who hide behind the walls claiming alot of BS trading/investing experience.They were quite easy for me to sniff out as I dealt with 1000's of them over the years.A real bunch of clowns

But there was still something missing and decided to open up my own trading sites.One being totally FREE http://www.ProTradersEdge.com and the other http://www.stephenNUTS.com that would be a high-end LIVE pay site.After confronting the complex nature of the internet business first hand,it has taken alot longer than I ever anticipated.PTE is up and running fine and I am a few tweaks/bugs from opening the SN site

I would have given anyone 1000-1 against the sites launch date coinciding with the greatest stock market collapse since the Great Depression.It has been complete chaos, but as a die hard trader it has been by far my most profitable year in my career.As my blog title states I am tired,but still have some gas in the tank in doing what has always been my calling.

The market closed yesterday with an almost 600pt gain,and still felt the adrenaline rush inside from so many years ago.Its an awesome feeling that will always be a part of me!

GL,
Stephen

This past week we elected our first black president.As the 44th incoming White House resident,Mr.Obama is probably facing the greatest challenge in the history of our country.With parabolic rising unemployment,reeling financial markets,and a continued depressed housing market………the challenge facing our new president will be a huge undertaking

Even though I am not a party Democrat,I was not impressed with the the Republicans choice with senator McCain either.Reflecting after the election, I am still stunned that McCain was the best we could find to face the challenge.Without going into all the pre-nomination BS,I have truly come to the conclusion that the political machine in Washington is a flawed model.The best/most qualified candidates are NOT nominated as evidenced by the Senators vice-presidential choice in Sarah Palin.No disrespect to her,but it is now obvious that it was done out of desperation rather than qualification.If McCain had 10+ point poll lead prior to her appointment there is no way in hell she would have been his choice.He picked her(lets call it used her) in a type of pathetic chauvinistic last minute hail-mary pass to his candidacy.I am in no way putting down Ms Palin,nor taking an anti-woman stance here ,but it was a complete blunder on the part of the Republican party.She is already becoming the Republicans fall-guy which is absolutely disgusting

The last eight years under their rule,have been some of the best/worst in my lifetime.From the Nasdaq stock bubble collapse in 2000, the Sept. 11th attacks,the huge speculative real estate market coming crashing to an end,to the now extremely fragile financial system…..this is no job for the weak at heart.In some strange way,it was time for the Republican party to step aside anyway as we were going nowhere fast,and a fresh change in leadership was needed

Although my opinion of Barrack Obama was neither here nor there,I will now look for him to lead this country out of this horrific mess.He is my president now and the constant political bi-partisan garbage in Washington must stop now.With complete control of the House this will be a huge advantage for him.He is a tremendous speaker,and seems to have the motivational skills necessary to get the United States back on track as a the world leader once again.His job is not an enviable one in my opinion,but I am willing to(and have no choice) give him that chance.However this will not be something he can tackle on his own,and hopefully he will surround himself with the right people to make the best decisions in the entire country’s best interests

Lets hope he can begin to reassemble whats left of this country.If he screws this up as well,and doesn’t deliver……….we will be in some pretty deep ****.

GL,
Stephen
www.ProTradersEdge.com

After 37 consecutive days(not trading sessions) we finally had two consecutive up days on the major market averages.The DOW and S&P had its first two straight days where they finished positive since Sept. 24th........yipppeeeee.We also had the largest percentage gain in market history this week.Since the Mondays lows ,we have rallied 20%+ on all of the major indexes and have bounced an astonishing 35-40% gains in some individual sectors/stocks such as commodities ,energy ,financial,and tech names


The other major hurdle we overcame was.......... October is finally over!


My last blog on Sunday was titled "5 more days". I spoke about the historic importance of October and the hopeful change coming in the Nov/Dec months where the markets traditionally have their strongest performance.Even though we still have a rocky road ahead as far as the economy goes,rising unemployment,and continued housing slump ........the severe credit crisis has definitely abated somewhat.With the elections ahead on Tuesday,and an Obama presidency all but locked away,the markets have digested(and discounted) everything but a nuclear war these past weeks/months


However the topic I would like to discuss(and brag abit about) is how quickly things can and do change in the markets.If you don't react quickly or have conviction in your actions/decisions these oppurtunities will slip away fast.As I said to countless friends,family , colleagues and members on www.ProTradersEdge.com ........... the last two weeks was a once in lifetime opportunity.The very few who listened are not only relieved,but were happily rewarded as well.

As a trader for many years,it basically doesn't matter which way the market moves ,as long as it moves.Whether I am short or long,market volatility is what we want and we got it last week.With the VIX index(measure of fear/volatility) reaching an unheard of 90+....... a massive rally was in the cards for technical reasons alone.I truly believe I can make money everyday trading, as long as there is market motion,but that's an entirely different subject as I want to stay on the subject of Long Term investments


As an investor, stocks were at levels not seen in many years,and I took advantage of that bigtime.Yes......I have retirement accounts and 401k's also,and was feeling the same pain as the rest of you .But as I said last week I put my money where my mouth is,and bought quality stocks/sectors with a vengeance.I always preach about not getting emotional with investment decisions,and always keeping powder dry but I was able to capitalize far beyond what I ever believed possible.After fine tuning my long term accounts at the close yesterday and starting some tax related selling........I am actually positive this year!

With the market still down almost 35% I am thrilled my long term portfolios/accounts are back to the zero line.The rebalancing I did once again,now enables me to have plenty of ammo available if we fall again,but with an average cost at much lower levels now.If we drop another 35% from here.........rinse and repeat once more


While I have no idea if we actually reached a long term bottom ,my point is that anyone with money in the markets should always have the same approach.For standard /basic investors ........stay away from options,margin,and ALWAYS have cash available for opportunities in the future.We may never see those levels again,but even if we do ,I will be sitting there in wait as the sheep throw in the towel again,and the patient/diligent few continue to capitalize time after time.Kudos to all the traders/investors on my site who took advantage of this opportunity

BTW........if McCain somehow squeaks out a victory or even has a chance of winning as the exit polls are updated on Tuesday,we could see another 1000point rally and quickly find ourselves above 10K again

Stephen
www.ProTradersEdge.com

The stock market has traditionally had its worst showing in the month of October,and this is certainly no exception.From the 1998 debacle,to the 87′ crash,and all the way back to 1929 meltdown,the worst results occurred during this month.However this current disaster seems to be a slow,torturous,slow bleed of an event rather than a one day “get it over with” crash.It has definitely been quite painful

With only 5 more days left in this month, hopefully we can put in some sort of a bottom this last trading week of October.In fact we haven’t had TWO CONSECUTIVE up days in a month,and a sustained rally can and should begin shortly.The coming final two months of the year, November and December, have been the best percentage gainers in history,and I expect a powerful rally of epic proportions as well.I may sound a bit optimistic but with all the gloom and doom out there,along with experience……… I have and will continue to buy equities at these levels.

We are going through the most intense de-leveraging process since the Great Depression which in turn is devaluing EVERY single asset class.There is nowhere to hide.Whether it be stocks,bonds,gold or real estate……price values have plummeted to record lows.This de-leveraging process might take another few weeks/months/whatever,but anyone sitting on cash,with little or no debt,a solid credit rating will have a once in a lifetime chance to buy these asset classes across the board without much downside risk,and huge upside potential.As always during any time period I continue to keep powder dry for situations like this.In fact I never dreamed I would ever see some of these opportunities in my lifetime again.The stock market may drop another 10-20% and real estate might continue to lag a for another few years……..but anyone that has 5+ year outlook will be greatly rewarded

The last few weeks/months I have been inundated with questions from friends,family,colleagues about the severity of this financial crisis.The only ones that are truly in trouble are the ones that are in debt up the gazooo ,have 23 maxed out credit cards,own 2+ useless luxury car leases,and are mortgaged and remortgaged to the hilt. Unfortunately those people are in trouble and if they lose their one remaining hope(their job) they are toast.But for the many others that are whining /crying about this situation,hoarding cash under the mattresses,continuing to rent apartments,or foolishly selling their 401k’s or stock portfolios………they are missing out on one of the greatest buying opportunities of a lifetime.If you didn’t have the foresight or ESP to sell already it is absolutely ludicrous to sell now.There are certain exceptions(tax matters for one) but I wont get into that now.

With a little hard work,research and due diligence,you will be a very happy camper 10+ years from now!

Good luck,
Stephen

www.ProTradersEdge.com if you are a current member,or havent joined yet(please do) there are some hysterical video clips from some talented producers in the “ANYTHING GOES” section of the FORUM

I decided not to blog about anything pertaining to the horrible stock market,the death spiral of our economy, or the great progress of the websites.

The World Series starts tonight between the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Philadelphia Phillie's.If I am not mistaken ,Philadelphia has had a 25 year championship drought in the 4 major sports.I believe(too lazy too Google)it was either the Flyer's in hockey or Dr."J" and the 76'ers in basketball back in the early eighties who brought home the last trophy for that city.Not being a big fan of either team I will be rooting for the underdog from Florida.With a payroll of only $30M they had a fantastic year,and once again proves money cannot buy,nor guarantee a winning franchise

Staying with sports,it was announced that Michael Vick(the scumbag dog fighting promoting prick from Atlanta) was being charged on the State level to qualify him for early release from Federal prison to a half-way house.Are you freaking kidding me?This slime ball should NEVER play another down in the NFL and I truly hope this once revered superstar is left hanging by his balls..............like the 100's of helpless dogs he abused.But I am sure some greedy owner will use this in an opportune way to justify hiring him because he 'did his time'.As a dog lover/owner this whole case makes me sick

I have officially confirmed the Las Vegas trip for the week prior to Thanksgiving.I am not only hoping we can finalize the new house deal,but also looking forward to a nice vacation.Having not played much live poker since the WSOP during the summer,I cant wait to play cards during that week .Since I live approximately three hours north of Atlantic City and three hours south of Foxwoods,it is quite hectic/inconvenient to just get in the car and drive anymore to those casinos.The the local card club scene has slowed dramatically due to the poker craze dying down,a huge increase in robberies,and the terrible players just being flat out busto.Without new blood in the games it is very hard to go a club and find fresh faces anymore,and I am sure that goes for online poker as well.

Maybe the hula-hoop will come back with a vengeance?

ttyl,
Stephen
www.ProTradersEdge.com

The last few weeks in the stock market have been horrific for just about any participant except the very best traders.The volatility index(VIX) reached record highs yesterday with readings in the mid-80’s.This is a sign of extreme fear/panic on the street amongst the entire investment community.When I started writing this BLOG a few months back, a good majority of my readers were poker players,and I have written posts directed at them on various subjects regarding investment advice,taking unused funds off online sites to put to work,the game getting extremely tougher,and so on.I want to talk about a few other issues in both poker and trading now

Yesterday I was asked by a couple of online players about the comparison of a poker players BR vs. a trading bankroll and what that percentage should be in my opinion. I want to touch on a few of the similarities in the two but first as I have stated many many times before, I don’t play much online poker for a few various reasons but that is basically irrelevant to the question and subsequent answer.So lets start with the online poker BR question and what is standard in todays online games.Being a LIVE cash player,any time I play live I might bring 2 maybe 3 buy-ins to a specific game where my normal stakes are anywhere from 5/10 up to 25/50. The fact that most live HS games have uncapped buy-ins makes it an individual preference as to how deep you play.Obviously if a juicy game comes around at even higher levels, I would certainly play ,but those fish type games are becoming harder and harder to find.The LIVE games are much easier in my opinion, as they are no comparison to the much tougher games online.I would also say most online games are dominated by the your normal TAG regulars all lining up or looking to take the few fish lefts money.That being said an online BR must be much bigger/broader for a few reasons.Game selection is imperative live or onlineand but online you have to spread you funds amongst many tables hunting for the best games,and you are competing with 100’s(if not more) other regs/pros doing the same thing exact thing.At some point the games are propabably so close in skill/talent these days that your potential profit will be a matter if you got dealt decent cards,were coolered or just running flat at any point in time

I have heard ranges of anywhere from 30 to 100+ buy-ins at each game level/stakes being a comfortable number.The funny part of those ranges is that the lower 30+ buy-in requirement players seem to be the cowboys playing/gambling well above their heads,and the 100+ BI players seem to be the uber conservative,nit like players playing completely over rolled at that particular level.It also seems the ratio changes drastically as you approach the nose bleed stakes.I would venture to say that as the stakes rise ,the players are no-where near bank rolled properly/safely to avoid the inevitable bad days,standard variance,withdrawals from their accounts for living expenses,etc.Without getting totally off course I am not talking about short stacking or buying in for less than the standard 100BB max games and the deeper 200BB games that have recently started online.I am just making some basic comparisons

If a nose bleed player at 200/400 were using the above guidelines that I mentioned above,I would venture to say the majority of them are drastically underolled. Although I cant actually prove that,I doubt very much that the vast majority of these players are sitting on 50+ buy-in BR’s of $2M+.I am sure there are exceptions but I think that most players at those levels are not even close to that number.I have also heard that at these nose bleed games many players buy action form each other to off-set variance,which also cuts thier own BR exposure proportionally.

On the other hand a 2/4 or 5/10 multi-tabling grinder is MUCH less prone to blowing up due to running bad,variance,tilt,living some fugazy balla’ live style and is much more likely to consistantly beat the games over millions of hands over time.I would think this is not only boring,hard work,but many players would not be disciplined enough over the long haul to use this style

The point of this story is that the higher stake/nosebleed player is no different than a young Wall Street trading hot shot having the majority of his nest egg on the line each day he trades.Their is saying thats been around for years on the Street “youre only as good as your last trade”.That saying also applies to a person being comped at a casino as high roller,and “your only as good for them as your last bet”.My conclusion is that the similarities seem to be in the high risk,”gamble it up” mentalities of these two animals whether it is in trading or in poker.The grinding player who puts in X-amount of online hours at stakes he truly can afford is very similar to the trader putting 3% or less on the line in any one position.They can both sleep at night knowing their last losing trading or poker session wasnt his last and last many many years making a great living

This phenomenon is currently rampant on Wall Street now ,especially with the stock market ‘variance meter’ at all time highs.I have seen more implosions of hedge funds ,day and regular traders blowing up,and even longer term players leveraging themselves to the hilt with margin,options,and other high-risk strategies that will eventually spit them out.The patient experinced traders are the same ones that survived the 87′ crash,the dot.com bust,the real estate ponzi scheme during the last few years,and now the tumultuous swings each day in the current stock market environment.Being someone who had those same degenerate qualities and traits and lost it all when I was younger,I vowed 20 yrs ago that it would never happen again.My trading style and bankroll as well as poker style/limits might be extremely nitty and OVER ROLLED for someone at the same level……..but I too can sleep everynight and also have the security that many do not have now.It also opens up other investment oppurtunities by always being liquid

But each and every time I have ONE poker player or trader grasp what I am saying I feel a tremendous amount of gratification.Whether you are a bigtime HS poker player that has ammassed millions or a young successful WS player who has reached the $1M+ a year bonus club ………..take my advice.There is ZERO need to have your BR ,nest egg,accounts on the line every time you ply your trade.Sometimes the math/variance just doesnt work your way,and in a few short weeks,months,years you will be muttering shoulda’ ….woulda’ coulda’

Stephen

BTW my FREE trading site has an intro-video on the homepage now, so just register/log-in and visit the LIVE TRADE room or forums as there is a great group of poker players along with traders each day there

www.ProTradersEdge.com

After witnessing and thankfully profiting from the largest one day rally in history,I actually LOL’ed to myself as the closing bell rang at 4:00pm.We gained almost 1000 pts in the DOW as well as huge gains in every other major market index .In fact we added $1.7 trillion in market cap back to our recent stunning string of 8 consecutive losing sessions.We are still down over 30% from our highs reached last Fall,but at least the market showed us that there is still some life in it.However my reasoning behind laughing to myself was ……..what actually changed since Fridays market close? My answer was not much at all …LOL.

Over the last two weeks(and especially this past weekend) I spent alot of time trying to calm peoples nerves about the stock market declines that have wreaked havoc on individual retirement accounts,401k plans,IRA’s,and just about everyones portfolio in general.I would guesstimate that 90% of these individuals (college students,regular lay persons,business owners,retirees,and even “pro’s” in the market) had either sold or were planning to sell their holdings and had a “I am just gonna throw in the towel Stephen” attitude so to speak

Now I am certainly not being a Monday morning quarterback or “I told you so” hypocrite as I write this, as I nor anyone had any idea what was going to transpire.In fact I was also quite concerned myself the last few days/weeks.But I told each and every one of these friends and family members that not only should they NOT be selling,but should be buying or adding to their portfolios in a scaled in manner going forward. Knowing exactly where the market would bottom is impossible,but the odds were increasing each day that we were close.The fear and panic was reaching parabolic levels and historically that is when smart money is buying.Anyone with a long term perspective should have been stepping up to the plate bigtime

While I am definitely no rocket scientist, nor a fortune teller,or have some market version of ESP……..but as we were falling each day for 8 straight days I was gradually/slowly adding to my accounts.These were monster companies that were trading at unheard of low PE multiples, and had nothing to do with the housing and financial system mess and its demise.They were quality companies sitting on piles of cash,had little or no debt and could withstand the coming recession with relative ease.In the rare times like we just witnessed yesterday(1987 was a perfect example) fortunes are made.

Unfortunately I was too young,immature,uninformed,arrogant and too **** to truly understand the scope of what was happening in 1987.I was leveraged to the hilt,didnt listen to the right people or anyone for that matter,had no available cash and was inwardly scared out of my wits myself to boot.I didn't capitalize ONE freakin’ dollar.I now just hope that helping the many younger folks and non-professionals understand the psychological fear mongering that is running rampant on TV and permeating just about every periodical I read is understood to some extent.The world is not ending and my true hope is they didnt panic/sell and hopefully took advantage of a situation that is very rare on Wall Street .I know it also takes ammo and heart but still want to believe I have faith in the US and the system that we will get through this fiasco.It might take 2 years or ten,but each time you can capitalize on opportunities in the stock market,real estate,business,etc it puts you not only in a much stronger financial position but also in a real positive emotional state of mind as well.

We might still go down further at some point going forward ,as it is definitely not clear if that was the actual market bottom.We still also have a myriad of problems facing this country ……..but cashing in on 15-25% one day returns will certainly give you alot more breathing room and sigh of relief.Hopefully once again in the future the majority will laugh at this and remember/learn from this

Now lets see how long this lasts,because as my blog title states………..is everything all better now?

LOL

GL,
Stephen www.ProTradersEdge.com

When the final bell on Wall Street rang yesterday,there was a roar not heard in some time on the floor of the NYSE .Our streak of 8 consecutive down days on the DOW was still intact after losing ‘only’ 128 points this time.The losses this past two weeks are staggering with the major indexes off almost 20% in this short period of time and amount to about 3 TRILLION dollars.Now I am not sure if that roar was because it was Friday,or because the drop was much less than earlier in the day when we feverishly had TWO separate 800 point rallies.The last rally 45 minutes prior to the close actually had us +300 points,but after the last few minute sell-off it seemed to at least be a moral victory of sorts

Last night Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson issued a statement that the government will provide cash to financial firms in exchange for an equity stake in another attempt at shoring up our battered financial system.I must admit,although they are abit late to the party,at least they are using every bullet in their limited arsenal at this stage.While I am not postive this will be that magic bullet everyone is so desparatley willing to find,its intended purpose is to once again try and shore up the fear and lack of confidence in the banking system

What many people truly dont understand is that the crux of this crisis stems from a credit crunch,and the lack of confidence in lending institutions opening their piggy banks.Whether it is a loan between banks, a consumer shopping for a new car or home,or the small businessman looking to just meet his payroll obligations or buy inventory…….the credit markets are frozen solid.Until they are thawed out,the equity markets will continue to remain under pressure

There is a G-7 amongst the financial leaders of the global economies this weekend………lets see what rabbit they can pull out of their hat?

GL,
Stephen
www.ProTradersEdge.com

As I awake each morning the last few weeks,and it seems the stock market futures are down 200+ points while global markets around the world suffer 5%+ losses across the board on a daily basis

While I am not totally sure when this financial death spiral will end,it is now quite obvious to me that last weeks ‘bailout’ was not only a waste of time but another nail in the coffin. It was another useless band-aid being used by our government to heal our failing economy.The problem with people and government is they want it things instantaneously fixed,and that just aint gonna happen.Its not how it works.Finding a quick cure-all drug for an ailment that took many years to be diagnosed is virtually impossible. I originally felt the bailout wasn’t exactly perfect but was also quite necessary ………..but I was wrong.I duped myself into believing our leaders had the answers and ammo to get us out once again

This was just one of the many reasons that bailing out Bear Stearns six months ago was the beginning of the end of Wall Street as we knew it.Once you let government (especially our hapless crew in Washington) intervene in the free markets you are doomed from the start.With their initial plan that Bear be bought by(saved) JP Morgan Chase with $30B in govt money ,the whole FREE market system had a monkey wrench thrown in the engine from the start.And each day and week since has brought on another battle cry from Washington crushing the very heart of our free market system harder and harder

“Let’s stop the short selling they yelled” as it must be those dirty bastards that are trying to destroy corporate America.”We will cut interest rates try two or three whatever more times the FED exclaimed” . Well now that we bailed out Bear ,”we certainly have to save Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac” as 90% of the countries mortgages eventually end up in their hands.Oh wait while we’re at it………”lets throw in Countrywide,WaMu and AIG ?

But that’s it guys…………”we definitely cant save Lehman Brothers,as they are the epitome of corporate greed” . “Wachovia………..no problem mon’……they can merge with Citibank(but they have alot on their plates too) so they can be plucked from extinction by Bank of America”?

You see a pattern here people?

If they would have let the markets sort this out in the natural free market process as they had for many many years,we probably would be well on our way to recovery .Sure we might be at DOW 7000 but the system would have spit out the garbage,confidence would be shaken but not broken,and the repair/building process would be well on its way

With Wall Street now hanging on every word coming out of Washington,not only is the free market system completely destroyed but confidence has fallen to unfathomable levels.

Something went terribly wrong somewhere and the Big Bad US of A cant figure it out this time.Unfortunately we are taking the entire global economies with us folks.

EDIT:As I am typing this the FED along with other central banks just cut the interest rates by .50% basis points ,and we are now GREEN in the futures market.Lets see how long this band-aid lasts?

LOL

GL,
Stephen

www.ProTradersEdge.com Register and stop by and CHAT!