WOW!!  Not enough volatility in this market!?  Monday posted a record 936 point gain in the DOW on reaction to the G-7 meetings over the weekend.  Fear appeared to be waning as the VIX fell from a high of 69 to close at 55.

Tuesday looked like the follow through day that most were hoping for as the DOW opened and traded up to 400 but retraced and spent most of the day flat.  It made a charge up to 200 toward the end of the day only to finish down 76 points.  The VIX remained steady at 55. 

Wednesday we took a freight train downhill to lose 733 points on the DOW which nearly erased the massive gains from Monday.  We had some decent earnings reports but they were outweighed by a host of less than stellar economic reports. The VIX took a ride back up to 69 as fear was returned to the market.

Thursday saw a 400 point gain on the DOW amidst lackluster CPI, Jobless Claims and factory numbers.  Go figure!?   Both George Bush and Warren Buffet had reassuring words on Friday.  President Bush recapped the game plan and warned that “It took a while for the credit markets to freeze and it’ going to take a while for them to thaw”.  Buffet espoused his well known and much quoted contrarian view to “Buy when others are fearful and sell when others are greedy” in an article in the New York Times.  This is great advice but sometimes difficult to execute in the face of such volatility.  The DOW closed down a “meager” 127 points as the VIX remained at a very high 67 to 70 closing out the week.

The major indexes had gains for the week which is a very positive sign.  The DOW was up 401 points. The SPX moved 41 points to the positive and the COMPQ was 62 points better.

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