What a Day....

Final Damage:
Dow Drops 777.68 (-6.98%)
S&P 500 Drops 106.62 (-8.79%)
Nasdaq Drops 199.61 (-9.14%)

If you were invested in our ETF Leveraged Allocation Model you would have been flat today or you could have been up over 2% in our Long Short Stock Model.

The Markets
I guess you could say the market didn't like the House rejection of the "bailout" package. The credit markets have also frozen up even more. Maybe its time our leaders in Washington start looking into other options that may involve a little more balance sheet analysis. No one seems to have a clue.

This brilliant bailout plan was flawed from the start. I really can't see how taxpayers can make money from this plan.

What we should do is let these assets (& Real Estate Prices) devalue and make insolvent companies go into receivership by following the model set forth by Washington Mutual...

A Couple Economic Suggestions...

John Hussman's Letter to US Congress
http://www.hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc080922.htm

Barry L. Ritholtz's 30/20/10 Proposal
http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/09/fixing-housing.html

Morningstar To Take Over MSCI Hedge Fund Indexes

MSCI will now have Morningstar calculate and distribute their hedge fund indexes. The indexes will still utilize the MSCI Barra methodology.

Many Hedge Fund Indexes have not fared much better than the market and many are down for the year. On the other hand, The Absolute Investor portfolios have been able to do what the indexes haven't; hedge the market.

New PowerShares Commodity ETFs

4 New Commodity ETFs from PowerShares

PowerShares Global Agriculture (PAGG)
PowerShares Global Gold and Precious Metals (PSAU)
PowerShares Global Coal (PKOL)
PowerShares Global Steel (PSTL)

Black Monday-Free Issue

Wow. Not a great day in the markets today. That's an understatement.

This is the great time to learn how to add hedge fund strategies to your portfolio. For a limited time, we are offering a free copy of this month's The Absolute Trader: ETF Edition.

Please sign up here: http://www.theabsoluteinvestor.com/Free_Sample.html

What Happens With Lehman ETNs?

As some of you may know, An exchange traded note (ETN) works differently then an exchange traded fund (ETF). If you buy an ETF, you are owning shares of a physical asset, whereas if you buy an ETN, you are purchasing a debt note; therefore making you suseptiple to credit risk. Now that Lehman has filed for bankruptcy, what happens to investors that have purchased any of the Lehman Opta ETNs? If these notes are included in the bankruptcy, investors will most likely lose out unless a buyer purchases that unit. There was a good article on indexuniverse.com about this.

Buffet Throws Out The 1st Pitch

Did anyone else catch Warren Buffet throw out the first pitch tonight at Fenway? His buddy & fellow Red Sox fan Jack Welch caught.

As you may recall, Jordan's furniture, an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) last year offered money back to all customers who bought furniture during the Red Sox World Series promotion.

Look a Japanese REIT Fund?

For investors looking to invest in the Japanese Real Estate Market, Northern Trust just launched the NETS Tokyo Stock Exchange REIT Index Fund (NYSEArca: JRE).

Some funds are benefiting from the turbulent markets

Volatility funds are doing well.

Janus Fund of Funds

Janus launched an alternative fund of funds called the Janus Adviser Modular Portfolio Construction Fund (JSMPX). It will be separated into three categories: alpha, alternative & core. The holdings will include Janus Funds, ETFs and derivatives.

Hedge Fund Assets

The total assets managed by hedge funds is now at $1.7 trillion with JPMorgan holding the top spot with $48.1 billion.

Indonesian ETF

Van Eck is looking to add another emerging market ETF to their stable. They have filed for an ETF that tracks the Indonesian markets. Their current international lineup consists of Africa (AFK), Gulf States (MES) & Russia (RSX).

Hedge Fund Index Returns

Allaboutalpha had a good article on the different returns from Hedge Fund Index Providers.

Feds Takeover Fannie & Freedie

This isn't a huge surprise. The government is taking control of Fannie Mac & Freddie Mae until they can manage themselves. Paulson & FHFA Director James Lockhart have decided to put them into a conservatorship run by the Federal Houseing Finance Agency.

Global Hard Assets ETF

Looks like Van Eck is the first on the scene with a global hard assets ETF.