(From Thursday's VRA Update). Good Thursday afternoon all. As I type, the markets have taken another turn for the worse, with the Dow off close to 100 points,  joining the S&P 500 in the .50% loss range for the day. Most of this week it's been the tech heavy NASDAQ that's been hit hard....following disappointing earnings numbers from the biggies, like Microsoft, Apple and United Technologies. Now, the rest of the market looks like it wants to play catch-up on the downside...but so far, the losses are moderate and contained.

It's a very good thing that we took profits this week...while we may not be making money on the decline right now, we were able to get out of several positions at the top...now, we have fresh powder and can act at the perfect time, either way (notice I didn't say that we can take action at a "good" time...we'll wait until it is the "perfect" time, before we act next).

While the overall economic picture continues to be muddled, the recovery is still happening....