Market Rippin' Tuesday

• Market ripped higher today, and is on fire afterhours with TXN and YHOO reporting.  Everyone is super excited about the market right now.  Except for me since I sold my tech 2 weeks ago.  While we've been grinding down the past two weeks, we seem to have rallied back in just one day and will gap up tomorrow.  Nice victory for the bulls.  I remain mostly long in low-beta stuff, with some cash on the sidelines.  This is options week and the kickoff to earnings season, so we could see some wild volatility.
• Bush picks Portman for budget.  My first thought was Natalie Portman, as Queen Amadala.  He seems like a well-spoken guy, though.  CNBC wondered this morning if folks were buying this game of musical chairs.  This guy used to do this, and now he does that.  Another person was doing this other thing, and now they're going to do this.  Etc.
• I liked Elizabethtown.  Definitely a chick flick, though.  Not as funny as I wanted, but Kirsten Dunst was kinda kooky.  When I see her in this kind of story, I think "Meg Ryan."  Also, having watched a couple of the Lord of the Rings movies, I kept thinking Legolas with Orlando Bloom, too.  But he didn't have to kill any Orcs in Elizabethtown.
• "24" has been very entertaining this year.  Extremely goofy, but entertaining.  Last night, Jack told the Secretary of Defence Heller about the voice recording, and it just went goofball after that.  But then if it didn't, the series would conclude in less than 24 hours.  Can't have that!  So, more tying up in rooms and impossible escapes ensue...
• More people were watching that 2300 level on the Nasdaq than watch Leave It To Beaver reruns.