Market update - Where are we going short term?

It looks to me reading the charts we are still headed lower short term. For the Dow that means going back to 8,000, for the Nasdaq it means 1500 and for the SP500 it means 850. That's about another 8% drop from here. That is the bottom of the range we hit in this Sept./Oct crash. We will bounce off these lower levels but will be testing them. Don't be fooled again when they bounce back up, as we will drop down on the Dow to about 7300 before we can truly say we are at bottom. That is where real capitulation is and I have been saying this for a couple of months now. So on rises sell, and repurchase at the lows of this band. The Dow will stay in this band of 8,000 to 9,700 for a long time or until we go down to the 7,300. If we do that money will come back into the market on much heavier volume than has been attracted back. However, longer term, volume will be a casualty of the market crash and loss of confidence in Banking, Insurance and the Government.

Bill Seidman, the man who was in charge of the Savings and Loan rescue plan back in the late 1980's, early 90's, was asked on CNBC this morning, when he thought this Mortgage crisis will get resolved. He said he hoped maybe by 2010 but there was serious doubt it would be resolved by then. That means we are in for a turbulent time.

Making money in the stock market is only going to come with increased trading in positions for smaller percent gains. You can get 5% gains with this volatility but then you must consider taking your profit. Hedging with Shorts is also something that can help stabilize the large moves. But those too must be traded when gains appear. The days are gone when the average investor hoped for a 8-10% gain in a year. Be happy now with 3-4%. That will be terrific if you don't have the time or skill to trade.