SPECIAL PRE-OPEN GUIDANCE Last week”s

SPECIAL PRE-OPEN GUIDANCE
Last week”s decline extended down sharply overnight. By way of illustration, the Dow”s 531-point decline from Friday was matched by midnight last night. And after bouncing for awhile, the decline has resumed and probed another 200 points under its earlier low.

Stocks are about to open much lower than Friday”s close. They will open in a very staggered fashion, so that in some cases it might be 15-30 minutes before an initial trade occurs. This may be described to you as capitulative marking a low. While that may be true for timing purposes, the ultimate price low can be much lower.

The alternative to a bottom here may be to break. Not break support, but break. (Nasdaq Futures were halted literally 3 minutes after I wrote the prior sentence). Profitability in today”s session goes beyond buy and sell signals, and depends upon systems remaining up and running.

Also be aware that we”re dealing with much more sizable moves. 5-6 tick stops in a normal environment could equate to 5-6 points today. Making a wrong move or staying too long could devastate your account. Similarly, price information you might normally consider as confirming a position is valid could be only noise.

The bottom line to it all is that there is no bottom line to it all today. If you”re trading at all — which isn”t required of you — consider shrinking the size of your normal positions. Always work to avoid overtrading, today more than any other day.

Best of luck!