Options Week Kick-Off

* Ah, the first day of options expiration week, and I can smell the napalm in the air. Isn't options week supposed to be up? Well, most of the time. I suppose "most" is the operative word. The market has to keep you guessing at all times. Otherwise, where's the fun?

* I think the movie Dodge Ball was hillarious. Just hillarious.

* Of the PDA phones, the one I like the best, heading into my own cellphone option expiration date (ie, end of yearly contract), is the Treo 650. I'm not sure if that's what I'll get. I don't like Palm OS as much as Pocket PC. I'd also like something that can get MobiTV. So... We'll see.

* New Battlestar Galactica or Old Battlestar Galactica? (I haven't seen the new one).

* Why does the NFL still play the Pro Bowl? Sure it was an important backdrop in the movie Blue Crush. But other than that?

* Here's a toast to Karl Malone!

* Are people really shocked about the drop in Google since their earnings? To me, that was a perfect time to dump heading into today's lock up expiration. I think insiders might want to bank some profits. The 2000-2002 bear market wasn't that long ago, and folks remember what happened to high flyers. Especially given that this bull market is getting long in the tooth. I see some folks at realmoney think today is a buy. Maybe it is. But I remember 2000-2002, too. Not my cup of tea.

* The dollar had reached a 3-month high against the foreign currency basket, after rallying for 6 weeks. It fell a little on the trade imbalance news last week. But is the move up a new trend? Most folks early in the year seemed to be wondering if they should convert all their dollars to euros or whatever, at the exact wrong time! It's rallied ever since. So, we'll if folks predicting more dollar weakness this year will be right, or if the rally continues.