AP - How far the Dow Jones industrial average has fallen or advanced each trading day since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 15. Since Lehman's fall, which touched off a paralysis of the credit markets and deepened the recession, the stock market has gone through an extended period of volatility before kicking into a big rally this spring. The numbers are the closing levels for the Dow: Related posts: The Dow Jones industrials’ moves since Leh

Since I last suggested gold looked “toppy,” our projected government budget deficit ballooned to $1.75 billion. The Fed decided to print money non-stop to fund a $1.15 trillion asset purchase program. Economic upheaval continued, including several major bankruptcies. Political unrest erupted in Iran. And North Korea stepped up its nuclear defiance. All should have emboldened gold prices. And yet, the metal struggled to tread water. It’s actually down 2% since February. Of course, the roar

Some of my recent trading has been into smaller caps than I used to try with. These are much higher risk investments than others, so I try to keep the sums down to a few hundred in each one. My worst one managed to lose me 75% of money money in a few days! On the other hand, African Copper made 300% in a few days a month or two later, so what goes round comes round. Most small cap stocks on AIM or the FTSE main market are total dogs, the key is trying to find the few who are not. In addition,