The real question is who knew what was coming between 4PM Tues and this morning, because those who had the inside info made tons of money? Make no mistake there were those who had the inside track and knew of the coming whipsaw of the S&P downgrades and subsequent central bank plans. Any thoughts about the potential of the alleged commercial trading arm of the US Fed having inside knowledge on this? Playing Wall St is like playing slot machines where the odds improve drastically when insiders put their card in the slot.
As a guy who six months ago cut back to half time and who will be retiring June 2012, I'm mostly concerned with the volatility. I don't think any of this will calm down until Obama is gone. I think his defeat would do more to help the economy than anything else, even if it is just because of perception and confidence.