In a nutshell:

Today markets around the world dropped by 5 to 6 percent -- some, maybe even more. I haven’t checked everything. As I wrote on another thread, the DOW dropped more than 500 points on European spot markets.

Oil, on the same spot market, has dropped to $87 and change, a barrel.

Gold, and silver have both dropped, not too much, but some.

And here is the really strange thing. The dollar has soared against all major currencies. The dollar has even risen strongly against the Swiss Franc, a usually strong, respected currency.

My problem is this: What little income I earn, is from trading currencies and precious metals. I am out of the market (this is good) and if I had the brains of an ant (even the brains of a rather dim ant,) I would stay out until things become stable – if they do. Lately, I’ve been trading GBP/USD (British Pound / Dollar). The GBP has been driven down to a level that has not been seen for almost a year, and about four times today I almost pulled the trigger (long GBP). Had I done so, I would be sitting on a large loss. The Euro is also strangely low against the Dollar. These prices look like great entries long for some great profits. Also, gold and silver are tempting. My charts have all washed out and are useless. I remember a similar situation (though mild in comparison to today). It was almost four years ago and I destroyed my account. It was my last serious loss, and I have learned better than to trade into chaos. My smarter part tells me that since I have no idea what is happening, I would be an idiot to trade. I wonder what will happen.

Greed vs. fear. Greed vs. fear. It’s 4 deg. F outside. I’m not driving down to the neighborhood bar to get drunk enough so that I don’t trade, and I don’t have any booze in the house.

Enkidu