Good thing I checked the message board and read your post. Disappeared fast. I agree with your assessments overall. I don't have faith in the fundamentals as you do as I believe the hot shot wheeler dealers of the markets can run me out of town any time they wish. So my stops get hit and I get spooked out of positions a lot expecting the boogieman to come at any point. The Fiscal Cliff is as you say just an excuse but they play it well both up and down with every announcement good and bad. I'm not smart enough to stay in a long term trade with any confidence for a long time now so all I can do is try to make a buck short term. And I don't trade a fraction of what I used to trade anymore either for those reasons. It seems 'they' can move the market dramatically on any comment reported by the media of any influential politician better than ever before. You wake up in the morning only to see the market gap against you. Like many precious metal stocks and Silver itself recently that came down to significant support levels and simply blew threw them like a hot knife through butter. It could gap right back up again next. I swear there would be better odds at a Casino. I'm assuming you are buying Leaps Options to catch the major trends you view. Other than scalping that does seem to be a way to avoid these short term erratic swings. Thanks for your input. And all the best in 2013 and beyond.