Wahoo! You have to love the price action this past week, especially if your trading involves options. Nice reminder of 2008 this week as my mind and body were completely drained and depleted by Friday so it was nice to have a “normal” day to close out the week. Lots of emotions still left in this market and that will only increase as we head into option expiration this week. Max pain for $SPX at the August expiration is currently 1275 which doesn’t seem achievable but anything is possible…right? The S2 pivot for the August cycle is 1216 which could be achieved rather easily.

Two big reports next week will be the Producer Price Index (PPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. We also get the Philly Fed on Thursday so lots of catalysts out there beyond option expiry. The biggest unknown right now is across the pond so until there’s more stability we will continue to see best performance in trades lasting a day only. With 500 point moves in a day, if you are on the right side, it can be a blast. Enjoy the links and your weekend!

• Do you have a backup plan? [NY Times]
• What makes us tick? [Fora.tv]
• Multitasking [Farnam Street]
• Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertip [Harvard]
• Increase your returns, trade in the dark! [UVa]
• Pressing all the buttons for a panic attack [NY Times]
• Reminders of Money Elicit Feelings of Threat and Reactance in Response to Social Influence [Journal of Consumer Research]
• Mindfulness and Stress [Neuroanthropology]