Six In A Row

We all knew there would eventually come a day when even emergency rate cuts by the Fed wouldn't help the market. Today was that day.

We're now down six days in a row and tomorrow is October 9th, which has historically been a key day for the market. Not only did we top out last year on that very same day, but back on October 9th also marked the bear market low back in 2000. With the short sell ban expiring tonight, I'm sure that alone kept many sidelined as there's a fair amount of uncertainty to what we will see as a result. In addition, Yom Kippur celebrations have already begun this evening. If we see a big rally tomorrow, that will go a long way to confirm the "Sell Roshashana, Buy Yom Kippur" trade.

Although I spent the morning looking for trades, I didn't see anything beyond the move in gold (see GDX) of much interest. At this point, I have enough capital in play (now 50% equity/50% cash) and before I can put more to work we either need a washout crash or see a rapid turnaround (or a combination of the two), and neither was present at least for today.

All in all, I pretty much used to day to catch my breath, get 18 holes of golf in this afternoon (ironically, I shot my lowest round of the year), and I'll be getting some extra rest tonight. Like many of you, I needed the break and figured that this was a good afternoon to get it ahead of the next couple of days. As always, I hope you're holding up under fire and staying opportunistic although I know it isn't easy in this once-in-a-lifetime bear market.