Jon,

Your street cred on options is uncanny. I really ought to think more about doing that. When you are 80 years old and demented, you'll probably still have those 500 'magic' shares in your account, having optioned them out 500 times. Years ago, when Jester generously schooled me in options, I recall doing 39 options trades for the year, which provided the bulk of my profits. (Those were the days when the ATVI buyout was a punch no one saw coming. Jester caught the 'daily range' between highs and lows almost every day, usable until the deal was closed and shares called away, and we both participated to around $1k profits on some days. I remember calling it a 'mini'game' to do so, and you said you had been doing the exact same thing. Those were the days. And it was a long time ago - maybe 10 years. We've all known each other for a long time, and profited by pooling ideas.) I see some non-posting visitors visit from time to time. I'm puzzled, and a bit unhappy, that more folks didn't follow us to this board. But I feel like it's still very good company. So yes, post your thoughts as non-pm's. And Jester is really the only 'eyes' we have to follow with the vg stocks, and that's welcome news. And your (Jester) call on CME seems very gutsy to me - one more case of food poisining, and they were toast, I thought. Your belief apparently is paying off really well. 

The market so apparently likes the (believed) deregulation of just about any business dealings. It would obviously help Trump's businesses. I can find journalists saying the conflict of interest between power and money that Trump hung Hilary with is so apparent in his mixing business with governing conflict of interest. But I've seen no real condemnation of such acts. It's not funny the Roy Cohen, (Cohn?), a lawyer buddy of McCarthy's communist 'witch hunt' was a tutor to Trump when he was younger. 

What I don't know is this: When an international crisis erupts, and Trump handles it with all the aplomb of Kim Il Jong, how much does the market drop in a day? Any guesses?