a remarkably ugly day

it certainly was a remarkably ugly day for the market, but what was really quite amazing is how fast things shifted from the euphoric buying we saw yesterday. they couldn't snap them up fast enough one day, and couldn't sell them fast enough the next. it really makes one wonder about the academic theories saying that the market is "efficiently priced."

i'm sure i don't have to tell you how poor the action was. the obvious catalysts for the selling were a wider-than-expected increase in unemployment and a huge move up in crude oil to new highs. regarding the employment report, i find it highly interesting that an unexpected surge in teenagers and 20-25 year olds is responsible for a chunk of the unemployment jump. makes one wonder....

but where do we go from here? unfortunately, the news is significant enough that it may continue to reverberate for longer than a day. in addition, for those that believe, the technical damage to the S&P 500 and DJIA is quite acute, and jumping in here to bottom-fish is looking like a very dangerous game.

there is an old saying that it is easier to find new opportunities in the future than it is to make up lost capital. that is certainly something to keep in mind at this point. as always, the market has some issues, and it may indeed shrug this off, but better opportunities are likely to be down the road a bit, so worry about protecting that capital for now.