The US dollar fell to yet another record low against the euro on Friday as traders remain overwhelmingly bearish on the greenback. Otherwise, the markets have remained bullish on nearly everything else, including commodities.

When trouble comes, typically, the middle classes are the ones who suffer. They have something to lose, but not enough. Market crashes, deflation, defaults and currency depreciations hurt the middle classes, too, reducing incomes, smashing nest eggs, and generally making almost everyone poorer.

The potential impact of Japanese economic data on the forex and equity markets is questionable, as USD/JPY and the Nikkei 225 have been driven more by risk aversion trends lately. However, if the data proves to be surprising, the news could shake carry trades and Japan’s stock market up.

Lawrence G. McMillan reviews the options market in his weekly column for October 25.

Price Headley looks at the beliefs that separate winning traders from the rest of the masses.

Americans might have to get used to it. Instead of giving advice to other countries, they may have to take some. There are bound to be plenty of economists in other countries who will want to offer it.

US economic data will likely prove to be mixed on Thursday, as Durable Goods Orders are anticipated to improve while New Home Sales are expected to fall.

Tim Bourquin interviews Timothy Sykes, who talk about why he focuses on shorting micro cap stocks, and why he closed his hedge fund in order to write and trade.

Think you know about risk and reward?  Most traders use the target price and the stop price as their model of risk and reward, and leave it at that. However, they may be missing an important risk/reward concept.

You’ve got to hand it to the Goldman crowd. They securitized dicey mortgages, sold them to their customers, and then, in order to protect themselves from the inevitable losses, sold them short!  Any Humpty Dumpty investor dumb enough to sit on this wall deserves to be pushed. Goldman gave them all a shove – and made money doing it.