Clocking In

• First, thank you to the well wishers.  I'm 98% recovered!  It was just a nasty headcold and I spent most of the last few days sleeping and pounding down the cough syrup.  One note: Beer and cough syrup are a powerful combo, and I don't recommend mixing the two.  File it under John Bogle's eighth wonder of the world, "the magic of compounding."  Pretty woozy feeling after cough syrup plus 3/4ers of a Fat Tire. 
• Woo!  Monday!  The market doesn't seem to like today anymore than the rest of us.  We're coming up on the end of the trading day, so it'll be interesting to see if the bulls can mount a fight.  We're already off the lows by a bit.  I remain with low-beta holdings, some cash on the sidelines, and a little QID (double inverse QQQQ).
• Normally, if options week was strong I'd expect this week to be weak.  But with earnings announcements up the wazzoo, anything is possible.  The end of the month strength is still a week off.  We also have the President's State of the Union speech, where he may recommend a (GASP) tax hike and talk about (GASP) global warming.  I expect this to mostly be lip service.   It's not like anything ever said in a State of the Union speech ever gets off the ground.
• Hugo Chavez speeding up the nationalization in Venezuela.  Another reason to avoid investing in rogue areas of the globe.  This will basically destroy Venezuela, as foreign investment capital dries up.
• Colts and Bears going to Miami for the Super Bowl!
• Hillary Clinton joings the crowded field for the 2008 Democrats, and Liberal Larry is all over it in Tell Me What My Platform Is!  To be honest, I think it's a dogfight for the Democrats.  I think eventually, Hillary's centrist positions will put her on the top of the ticket.  John Edwards may have a shot at this, too.  I don't have a feeling for the GOP ticket yet.  I thought McCain would be the front man, but it's too early to tell.
• Trading Goddess wonders if Google is priced 8x too low.