(As of 7:14 am pacific)
House Speaker Boehner could
not put together the votes to pass what is termed ‘Plan B’. Fellow Republicans
are rebelling, just as they did last year with the budget deficit extension
bill. The fiscal cliff is a near done
deal and complacency may well give way to panic over the next few trading
days. Oil is down, while the dollar and
gold are up with safe haven buying being in vogue today. Today’s quadruple witching scenario may add
severe volatility to markets. The
‘witching’ term means the day when options and futures contracts all expire at
the same time. Downward pressure on
markets should increase as the day wears on and investors head for the exits
before the weekend. It could be a very
rocky road for the next few days.
