The world is not ending.  Actually, if you have some cash it might be time to start looking for some good bargains.  I put roughly 30% of my cash to work today.   Why am I so calm…it (market) always comes back.  If it doesn’t it won’t matter if my assets are all in cash, as everything will be worthless.

Some interesting items:

• Based on every bear market since 1890 the median percentage decline is in the mid-30’s%.  At this time 2:03 PM we are down 43% from the high.
• The VIX, which measures volatility, has set new records…NEW RECORDS.  This is generally considered to be a good sign that a bottom is here or almost here.
• There is panic on the streets.  People who never pay attention to the market are scared….good sign.
• SPX dropped below 30.  The other 3 times this happened (1929, 1973, 2002) a bottom was really close.
• Gold vs. SPX - an ounce of gold is greater than th S&P 500.  The last time this happened a big bull market began.
• Cash allocation is very high.  There is a lot of cash looking for somewhere to go.  US Treasuries are so popular buyers have driven the yield down to virtually zero.  At some point people are going to change their allocation strategy towards equities more.

None of this means we will hit a bottom, just that a bottom here, or shortly, is not ridiculous, and is actually a reasonable proposition.

Note that the G7 meets this weekend, so there could be some type of action announced.

Somethings to look forward to this weekend:

• Texas vs. Oklahoma
• LSU vs. Florida
• Penn State vs. Wisconsin
• Undeafeated Oklahoma State vs. #3 Missouri
• USC vs. Arizona State

Doesn’t get much better than that for a college football fan.  I would suggest paring the late games with a Gonzo Imperial Porter from Flying Dog Brewery.  Enjoy.