Through a glass murkily. Thu Oct 29

The bar staff round here should start doing their job properly. The glass must have been smudged because what looked like it was a glass half full has now turned out to be a glass half empty and the hangover is kicking in.

The long awaited correction has arrived with steel capped boots and an attitude as the sell off has exceeded the last couple in August and late September which rapidly reversed back up. Down 81 points at 11.05 am, about 15 up from the lows. Here's the Xjo chart.

My positions are going ok though, defensives Fgl and Tls are up, with my short in Qan down. A small long position in Kar is down but outperforming.

I've added another small long position in Brambles. It had a wicked correction in early October from a very strong uptrend. It's bounced twice since and today could be the third time. Doesn't seem to be any desire to sell it down. Long at 724.

1.07 It's the standard big gap day down followed by a narrow range. Anz has followed the script and sold off on the back of its result. I'm still doing some homework on my trades etc so no changes to the book.

2.51 Let them eat cake....or bread at least. Goodman Fielder, a listed baker, is rallying along with the other defensives in a market that's now down 2.4%. I'm long at 166.

4.12 A sad little rally on the close failed to add much spark and the market closed down 110 points. A reasonable day for me though with Fgl, Gff and Tls holding small gains.