Let me start by welcoming those of you who may be visiting my site for the first time. I would encourage you to read each of my latest entries to get a feel for who I am. Now on to the markets. The title today is "nothing settled today" and that pretty much says it all. Prices were modestly higher, with the exception of the NASDAQ 100 and the Russell 2000 which were both up over 1%. However, volume was light and if you pinned me down I'd have to rate the overall action as bearish. I believe we'll find out early next week if we have serious bottom...or just a pretender. Remember that 1200 level on the S&P. It's the current line in the sand. Oil is breaking down through trend lines as are other commodities. Lots of the "Johnny come latelys" to the commodities party are beginning to sweat. Oil falling hasn't helped the overall averages much though, and I imagine more than a few stock perma bulls (see Larry Kudlow) are surprised by that. At this point I'm not sure that anything would surprise me, except perhaps if Larry Kudlow admitted he's clueless!