We have a small club that meets to discuss stock trading and options trading. It’s not an official club of any type; it’s just a couple of us meet for breakfast very early twice per month on a Saturday.

We’ve had a lot to talk about, lately.

The subject of short selling has been hot recently. Some — like me– argue that it’s necessary to have short sellers in order to keep some stocks liquid and to eventually determine a bottom.

Some of our club disagrees, arguing that there is a conspiracy to drive down the price of certain stocks and then make a killing on what you know is going to be a lower position. I can believe this, too.

But, I’m not sure you can regulate such a thing.

At this point, I don’t know if anybody is certain what is going on.

Even in this age where I can keep track of my portfolio with a click of a mouse, I’m still confused. Maybe uncertain is a better term. Online stock trading has made my life easier, at least, in the respect that I can execute the trades I feel and think I have to make much more easily than ten and fifteen years ago.

The club met last Saturday and talked about the bailout — or “rescue plan” for some time. Most of us are convinced that it is neither. The banks and all purchasers of derivatives have not been saved by any means, and those who have gotten into homes with sub prime mortgages and interest only loans are still faced with the same risk.
On the way to the meeting I counted the number of “see through” houses (empty houses), and I saw way too many.

I’m cautiously optimistic that the action by Congress may stabilize the US markets for a short time, but going forward is unpredict-able, as we are in a global economy, and nobody can trace all the bad paper.

Most of the others in the group believe the same thing, that the only thing certain is uncertainty.

We paid our bills and then left.