When I Was Your Age, We'd Have A 7% Flux In An Hour

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I had to go back and do the math to see that the daily range on the S&P 500 was nearly 7%. It simply didn't feel like that volatile of a day. After the last several though, I suppose the intensely dramatic elsewhere simply isn't impressive in this environment anymore. Like an eight year old watching HBO, sex and violence in the market just doesn't impress anymore.
The Beard and The Bald wisely kept to the sidelines more this week. Their waning powers need recharging and the market has been dangerously close to finding their underground sanctuary/lair where chanting, black robe clad followers will summon the forces from below to rejuvenate their demonic powers. It means something when the new guy with the funny name gets more press than the high priests. (Yes, Cashcarry. We are looking at you). Seriously, what happened to Beard? Bland lectures, read from the podium in a tight vocal frequency band, and which were vastly overshadowed by the following Q&A session in which audience members provided all the good material. The week surely highlighted the dilution of executive charisma.
Say what you like about him, Greenspan could move markets, even in a crisis, just by stuffing his briefcase a bit more than normal on his way to the Fed meeting. He was like Jobs to Apple. The Beard is just too... Freshman year macro-professor for that. Your first three weeks you are stunned into a catatonic-like shock and awe (and he is kind of cute to boot, for an older guy) but by the midterm you don't buy half of what he says and you barely listen to the other half, instead waiting for that damn Thursday afternoon class to end already so you can head to the Union early.
Anyhow, the celestial alignment of options expiration didn't throw the earth out of its usual orbit. The S&P 500 almost totally flat. (-5.88 to close at 940.55). Not a bad way to slide into the weekend so you can ignore all that stuff about "American Sway" being diminished, and our Federal Officials being powerless. Until next week. Well, Monday of next week. Or Sunday if you trade futures.

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