Afternoon Update....

Dow -146
S&P - 29
Nasdaq -51

After gapping lower, the market actually went positive just before noon. Since then we have drifted back lower.

My take: This market is pretty much washed out. Not that we can't go lower, but long term, we have a serious buying opportunity here. The Fed is not going to let the entire US Financial system collapse. However, this is how assets are currently being priced. Bear Stearns was always the type of company that had an air of shadiness about them....and they probably got what they had coming to them.

Tomorrow the Fed meets on interest rates. No doubt they will try to shock the market back to life again. It's too bad they didn't react quicker...if you remember I was pushing for them to act on rates the first week of January...they waited until the third week...and basically created this run on the bank mentality.

If history holds up...and it should...this looks like an inflection point...a place to buy and NOT a place to sell. Hang in there and I think you will be better off a year from now.

Look for bargains.