The Weekly Report for October 20th - October 24th, 2008

October 19, 2008- Market Summary
In our previous report, we mentioned that the underlying economic issues have been wreaking havoc on the stock markets from around the world. Unfortunately for investors, not much has changed on this front. Current readings on the CBOE Volatility Index are indicating that the major U.S indexes are trading at record levels of volatility, which is resulting in extremely wide trading ranges. As we noted last week, the historically high VIX levels may be used as a contrarian indicator to suggest that things will start to settle down.

Taking a look at the charts below, you can see how truly dire the situation is for so many investors. The indexes have sliced through support levels and the extreme volatility that has been present in recent sessions has made it impossible to determine when the selling will end. We continue to believe that the best decision is to remain on the sidelines until everything settles down.

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