“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” -- Winston Churchill

For the moment, investors continue to see any signs of a sharp market drop as a clear buying opportunity, rather than as a time to panic and exit the market.

In other words, greed currently trumps fear on Wall Street.

Is this a perfect time for a contrarian play or what? Read more about ETF Periscope: Gold Gets Smacked Down as Wall Street Continues to Soar

“Nothing like a little judicious levity.”-- Robert Louis Stevenson

A few weeks back, when word hit Wall Street that the Cyprus government planned to impose an across-the-board tax on the depositors of its two biggest banks, the major indices fell sharply and quickly. Read more about ETF Periscope: Warning Bells On Cypress Continue to Toll for Investors

“Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.”  -- Lao Tzu

However the banking debacle in Cyprus plays out over the next few days and weeks, it should serve as a reminder that, economically speaking, much of Europe remains on shaky ground. Read more about Go Long Apple, Short the Eurozone

“Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first. “ -- Mark Twain

So far, the month of January is proving to be a solid win for the Bulls. And, while the major market mover for the remainder of the month probably will be found in the earning season numbers yet to come, a series of macroeconomic trends seem as if support for the upward trend should continue, perhaps deep into the first quarter of the year. Read more about ETF Periscope: Macroeconomic Outlook Could Paint a Pretty Picture for US Market

“If all the economists were laid end to end, they'd never reach a conclusion.” -- George Bernard Shaw

Wall Street inarguably had what turned out to be a rather rough week, experiencing two days of a sharp, post-election sell-off that surely put the Bulls on high alert. Read more about ETF Periscope: Bad Economic Numbers Mean a Good Time to Short the Eurozone

“Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.” -- Douglas Adams

Last Friday’s sharp sell-off could easily be viewed as a result of the lack of commitment investors currently hold towards the equity market. The bad news is that sentiment might be amplified in the coming week if several factors play out towards the negative side of things. Read more about ETF Periscope: Watch Out Below If Earnings Disappoint This Week

“A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.”—Groucho Marx

For a market that has spent a good portion of September exploring new highs for the year, there seems to be a lingering apprehension on Wall Street that October could see a return to increased volatility. Read more about ETF Periscope: Spain Remains a Pain For Wall Street

After two consecutive weeks of more than 200 basis points of growth in S&P 500 market prices, resulting from general enthusiasm over the stimulus decisions of the ECB, Fed, and Japanese Central Bank, the market took profits relatively quietly last week. Last week’s economic reports were generally flat. Read more about What the Market Wants: Caution is the Word of the Week

“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.  -- Lao Tzu

Wall Street experienced its first weekly loss for the month of September, though the major indexes continue to hover around the highs for the year. Was the small drop in the Dow and the S&P 500 merely a breather from the rarefied air of QE3, or more of a harbinger of a trend reversal in stocks? Read more about ETF Periscope: Is Wall Street Floating Along On An Equity Bubble?

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced a bond-buying plan Thursday that lifted U.S. Markets to levels we haven’t seen since 2007. China followed suit with a post on the National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) website announcing plans to boost infrastructure spending.  Together, these announcements helped investors feel better about global growth. 

Just as the market was feeling like the “sky was the limit,” the US payroll report this morning was so bad that the market reacted like “a rebel without a clue” by continuing higher.   The reason for today’s continued rally “into the great wide open” is predicated on the belief that the Fed will announce some version of QE3 next week.  Read more about Dark Horse Trader's Hedge: Market Moves Into the Great Wide Open, Option Review September