Oct 15 - Afternoon Update

Bernanke has just finished speaking, and the message was clearly not a good one. To sum it up in a few words, he's said that economic recovery cannot begin until the markets return to a normal state. It doesn't take a brilliant person to understand the high level of uncertainty and caution in this statement, and the markets are certainly proving that, as the Dow is now trading down over 5%. Whether Wall St. can digest this reality and move on will be the primary focus as we move towards the close. With the disappointing retail numbers still fresh in investors' minds and with the VIX trading up over 13% as of 2pm, it is unlikely we will see the Dow recover much, if any, of these losses today. The situation today is another clear reminder that we are still very much in a bear market, and that Monday was one of your typical large one-day rebounds that are often seen a bear market such as this.