Fold-em Friday

Dow Jones 9.686.48 -46.05 -0.47%
Nasdaq 2,091.79 -9.57 -0.46%
S&P 500 1,022.58 -4.79 -0.47%

Coulda been better. Coulda been worse. There's irrational exuberance and there's irrational bearishness.

We're somewhere in between. Just about everything was down again, though copper and steel weren't too bad. FCX (58.21 +0.05%) and PKX (94.74 +0.07%) did better than US Steel (X 37.66 -1.26%). It's always interesting when copper is up while the FXI is down (39.02 -0.91%).

While the Euro (FXE) was up slightly (125.08 +0.25%), the US Dollar (UUP) was down (24.57 -0.12%). That should make for a positive US market, right? Not today, not with oil (USO 32.64 -0.70%) down.

GLD (118.49 +1.24%) and SLV (17.46 +0.11%) took a pause from their sharp declines.

While GLD and SLV have sold off, TLT is still above 100.

Inverse ETNs did well. TZA gained 3.23% to 8.63.

Real estate bears had their way. DRV (Real Estate Bear 3x) gained 5.98% to 8.33. SRS (UltraShort ProShares) gained 3.77% (30.42).

FAZ gained 3.05% to 18.31 while finnies were lukewarm. GS lost just 0.05% to 131.08 and Citi gained 0.26% to 3.79.

STD dropped 1.36% to 10.92 after some massive gains.

AAPL tested its recent low again, bouncing off 243 to finish at 246.94. I've wanted 260 and 250, but I'll hold off on an entry point until this iPhone antenna issue has some kind of resolution.

Still 100% cash for more than 3 weeks. Watching from afar is best at this point.

Bears block party

Holding inverse ETNs, particularly the ultra sort, can be hazardous to one's trading account. Overnight, the readjusting that goes on can swoop in and steal your profits. VXX declined 400,000% in the past year. OK, I'm exaggerating a bit, but it was painful for anyone who dared to buy VXX a year ago and simply hold. It's not a buy-and-hold vehicle and never was intended to be.

Today, though, was a win for bears and ETNs. Here's how the list I compiled a few months back did today:

BGZ +9.32%
DPK +10.28%
DRV +9.58%
DXD +5.24%
DUG +6.22%
EDZ +11.72%
EEV +7.97%
EFU 6.75%
EFZ +3.39%
EPV +7.47%
EUO +1.29%
FAZ +10.48%
FXP +7.96%
LHB +13.97%
QID +7.58%
SDS +6.07%
SKF +7.44%
SMN +8.33%
SRS +6.13%
TMF +3.49%
TWM +7.54$
TYP +10.89%
TZA +11.25%
VXX +9.26%
ZSL +2.73%

The time to commit to these inverses was before today, of course. Getting in now is perilous considering the news today from China, Europe, Venus, the Dark Star and beyond isn't any worse than it has been in the past months. None of it was really unexpected. If the market bounces tomorrow or Thursday (first day of the new quarter), that won't be a shocker.

But keeping a close eye on all these inverse ETNs and the movement is key. Know the pulse before entering.