The Jerk Report

Did anybody notice, over marmalade and eggs
In between the princess' legs
What with wars and floods and beggars
Not to mention stocks and shares
If you have a moment to spare
Can you write and reassure me that I have seen
They're constructing a time machine
There will be no need for the obituary pages
We can have any hero from the bygone ages
'til the truth emerges, the argument rages
The major and the minor
Turn from tallow into tar
Should we leave them in their place?
Down in damnation's cellar

Ahhhhh. It was a nice, nice day. Best day in four months. The Dow down almost 160 points. The Russell, the S&P, the NASDAQ - all smashed.

But we must be careful here. The tyrannical bulls have fooled us many times already. Downdrafts have been short-lived. So as much as I'd like to see every bull on the planet get wiped out, let's wait a couple thousand points before putting any party hats on. It's just nice to get a good, solid, down over 1% (finally!) day under our belts.

Here's a chart you probably didn't expect. The traffic for f*ckedcompany.com (for your folks that bristle at anything more severe than "poppycock", I've politely included an asterisk). The schadenfreude that drove this site's popularity has clearly diminished with the market's health. Let's hope Phil Kaplan has plenty of reason to celebrate in the coming years as companies get nuked again.


The pattern we have seen recently certainly apes the one we saw in May before the delicious descent in June/July. One day does not a trend make. But it's a start.


The $MSH technology index had its breakout pattern shattered. Good. Poor old GOOG is beneath the nosebleed-high $500 mark.


The S&P 500 is probably the best index for options, given the relatively high volume and the volatility of the index. The bid/ask spreads still tend to be fairly gigantic, but on days like this, you can make some serious green.


Part of the profits stem from the fact that the volatility exploded higher. So the value of the options pushes up both intrinsically and from a time-risk perspective. Just look at this jump in the past few days.


I can't shake the $XAU as a short pick. It has come full circle back up to the retracement level shown here.


One last index to look at - the $XMI. It has tumbled quite a bit the past week. Breaking the line shown here would put a nail in the bullish coffin for this sucker.


My LEH puts are doing fine. Looks like some serious failure happening here.


Last week I pointed to HLT as a choice short pick. So far, I nailed the top.


AKAM isn't anything to write home about, but it's not bad for a short. I see some serious weakening happening here.


NVR is thinly traded, but it's a fun short on days like this. It can lose 20 or 30 points in one session.


This week is going to be full of economic data. Today's weak retail report was the first gift we needed. Santa, bring us more!