The question about short selling has come up quite a bit on web sites about online stock trading.

Many companies that you would like to buy puts for you can’t. And some of those that you can buy puts for are very expensive.

So much of the selling going on now in the markets are long term holders.  They’ve capitulated.  Though not enough of them have.  I don’t believe any bottom has been reached yet in any of the world markets.

This is a unique time for online stock trading, and for others.

I’ve been keeping a close watch on my 401k and other investments. I want things to be mostly liquid. I want to be ready when the bottom gets close.

This morning’s news was not great.  Tokyo stocks had its greatest drop in over two decades, and the UK is partially nationalizing its banks.

The flip side was that I wanted to look for some value, and it was very, very hard to find right now. If there were some big publicly traded bankruptcy law firms, I might be tempted to put a few buys their way.

Mostly, it’s just been a “hold and see”. I am wondering how long I can ride down some of these things without trying to protect myself, either by selling or by trying to get some “collars” in place. Trouble is the expense of many puts.

This is really a unique time, but I’m at least glad that I can keep an eye on my money with a few clicks.