THE OPEN

Marekts open lower with the DJIA lower by 100 and some notable strength in tech and semis.

NYSE- 1450 net losers;

NAZ- 450 net losers;

NDX- 40 GREEN;

OEX- 25 GREEN;

VIX- higher by 9% at/near 48.75;

Down volume 4X the up;

Weakness in GE which is now at the lowest point since 1996- some guy on TV this AM talking about buying dividend paying stocks like GE for downside protection- the GE dividend gets eaten up in minutes of trading- not sure why our friend ERIN didn't challenge this great idea.

WSJ reporting that the cost of insuring $10 million of five year Treasurys is about $66,000 up from $7,680 a year ago. I guess that is part of the reason gold is moiving on up as folks have less confidence in reserve currencies. And yes those CDS contracts are supposed to be paid in EURO's should the US default- EURO's huh?