Quick Update

I'm sure everyone knows all about the sell-off in the markets already. It's a painful day. Not unexpected in the least, but it still stings. What is a bit scary about the 9% drop in the Chinese stock market (Shanghai Composite) is the fact that their market has a 10% maximum drop on individual issues. This means that without the artificial price floor, the Chinese index would have been down much more than 9%.

Have a look here at a snapshot on some of the stocks that make up the Shanghai index. Notice how most of the stocks are lock-limit down. Click image to enlarge.


Anyway, I suppose I was a tiny part of today's sell-off.

I'm still uneasy and generally nervous about the market, and I figured now was just as good a time as any to raise some cash. If we continue to see the markets tumble, at least I'll have additional funds to deploy.

From the portfolio, here are the sales I made today. I don't anticipate any further trimming of exposure on my part.

Sold Home Depot (HD) at 39.93.
Sold Wet Seal (WTSLA) at 6.10.
Sold Micrus Endovascular (MEND) at 20.75.

Try to laugh about it, it's only money. Keep your cool, and understand that markets can't go up in a straight line.