Stress Test Friday

• Just over an hour to the banks' stress test, and the #2 pencils are being sharpened as I type.  Remember to fill in the circles completely, and no stray marks on your Scantron answer sheet.
• The market is off to the races today, Microsoft leading the way after its earnings report last night.  Hey, who knew folks would be so excited about MSFT's first drop in sales in 23 years?  Nasdaq leading the way, which is a good thing.  Advancers leading the decliners nicely.  Volume is light, though.  We'll see how she moves later in the day.  Will folks cash in for the weekend?  The last few days have seen some big moves in the last hour.  Stay tuned!
• Lakers lose as Kobe's shot at the end of the game was not even close.  LOL.
• The government lending GM another $2 billion.  More good money after bad.
• NFL draft this weekend!  Now there's some good TV watching.  Are you an ESPN or NFL Network watcher?
• Natural gas prices continue to fall, as nobody needs energy anymore.  The thought is that supplies are high and demand is low.  We're swimming in the stuff and there's a global recession.  I'd temper that by saying I think we've turned the corner economically and I would expect demand to increase.  And then can we really extract all the natural gas we think we can?  Something to watch.   UNG. (No position yet).
• Going bearish on the Tickersense poll.  Mostly on seasonality.  I'm still long in my portfolio, and waiting for some confirmation that the rally is over.  We had the big down day on Monday.  Might've been a one-day wonder, but we're retesting the rally highs today and we'll see how it closes. 
• #2 pencil picture is lame, huh?  Fixed.
• The key to a happy marriage?  Denial.  Happy marriages might just be those in which both partners uphold a very nice projection of each other, even when things aren't so great. And this makes sense. Happiness is a state of mind, and if denial paints a partner better than they really are, the relationship is bound to be satisfying, as long as no one is slapped in the face with reality.
• Following the Lenny Dykstra story?  No longer at thestreet.com.  Read Adam's entries on Lenny.