Definitely one of the more volatile weeks that I can remember in quite some time. I took Friday off, for the most part, and judging the price action it looks as though it was an option expiration Friday. I had some sell orders for October call spreads waiting but never did get filled on any of them. The market action of late has taken a toll on me mentally so it was nice to have a day off other than the weekend. When objectivity gets clouded and each day ends in mental exhaustion it’s better in the long run to take a day off versus pushing through to the weekend.

Next week is rather light on economic events with FOMC minutes on Wednesday and retail sales along with consumer sentiment data on Friday the only worthy catalysts. Of course earnings season officially kicks of Tuesday after the close when Alcoa ($AA) reports. There’s a lot riding on Q3 and I feel as though it will be THE catalyst that moves the market higher into the year’s end. The only real wild-card left out there, in my opinion, is China. Seems the market has pretty much priced in all the crap across the pond. Perhaps I’m naive to think such, time will tell. Enjoy your weekend and the links!

• How the brain copes with stress [MNT]
• Athlete’s winning streaks may not be all in their heads [Yale]
• Beauty and the brain [Ed Yong]
• Retraining the biased brain [APA]
• The brain’s multitasker [Neuropod]
• Why do some people learn faster? [The Frontal Cortex]
• Sponge Bob and his enemies [The American Spectator]
• Key to greatness is working memory [MSU]
• Links between risk-taking and the brain [Cornell]
• The brain knows the moves (you just get in its way) [The Conversation]