This market is a mess right now.  It is entirely made up of extremes and there is no way to predict how this will fall over the next week.  Could it continue to go up?  Maybe, but probably not in massive moves like it has done over the past two days.  Could it go down?  Maybe, and the moves could range from small to massive, it is impossible to tell.  A few things to look for:

1. What are the details of the massive bailout planned by the government?  This will go a long way in determining which way the market moves.
2. When will short selling be reinstated (it is banned right now)?  What will happen when it is reinstated?  Could hedge funds and other big investors be waiting to pounce?  Also, some have suggested the recent massive shorts were financial terrorism…literally (per Jim Cramer on The Steet.com).  This is not out of the realm of possibility, as our interconnected world makes it much easier to hide who is trading and where it is coming from.  Plus, don’t be fooled by what all the vaunted leaders of the middle east say, many are terrorist sympathizers, and bankrupting us would mean they win.  It is what I would do, as a terrorist, with access to the trillions of dollars we pump into those countries for oil.  I could go off on a giant tangent here, but I will contain myself.
3. What is the level of panic?  We bottomed this week and then rocketed back up the confidence meter.  Will it stay?
4. Some companies to watch next week, as they report earnings (shame no financial companies are repoting):
   • Nike (After Market Sept. 24) - This will help determine how the consumer sector is doing.  No one buys $100 shoes when the wallet is hurting.
   • RIMM (After Market Sept. 25) - Business and consumer spending on electronics

Obviously, all of the above reasons and more make this market wildly unpredictable, but the one stock I am very interested in is Goldman Sachs.  Per Cramer:

“Goldman has no home equity loans and car loans. Goldman does not have exposure to the parts of the economy that are bad,” he said. “No one’s listening to me that I think Goldman is fine.”

Buying one of the last surviving independent investment banks, which has consistently outperformed it’s peers, on the cheap, is very enticing.

Have a good weekend and forget about all this junk for a while.  I plan on kicking back with a few Konoma Brewing Co. Wailua wheat beers and enjoying some really perfect weather…to each is own.