Chutes and Ladders

Total was a CRAAAAAAA-ZY day. I don't think there could have been a better real market example of my chute and ladders analogy than what happened today. Look at a chart of the Dow Jones Industrial Average:

Look at constant up and down motion of that chart. Those aren't small moves up and down. You can define clear upward and downward momentum moments.

Today, I spent about a good hour watching this, and I actually managed to use some of the momentum to buy in low and sell high two times.

Frankly, this is one of the only methods to make money when the volatility is so high. Alternatively, you could just wait for a big down spike and buy and hold for the long term, or, an even riskier strategy, wait for a quick upward rise and short something.

I think for the rest of the week, it will continue being this kind of volatility. The week finishing much better than it started is unlikely, unless something amazing happens to the market.