Insomnia edition

Stock Gyrations May Roil Trading as 80 Million Options Expire (Bloomberg)

“We’re going to be in for a wild ride,” said Michael Nasto, the senior trader at U.S. Global Investors Inc., which manages $6 billion in San Antonio. “It’s going to be like going to Coney Island.”

Chart of the day: The Magic Hour

So why is so much upheaval concentrated in the last hour? It probably has a lot to do with the biggest bar in the first chart. Overnight volatility is even higher than last-hour volatility, so traders are probably trying to get out of positions to reduce their overnight risk exposure.

I think it would be funny — and very surprising — if the market were just sort of flat today.

But no worries; CNBC will spend half its airtime today talking about Google’s “blockbuster” quarter.

Update

Whoa!  Buffett says he’s buying.

So … I’ve been buying American stocks. This is my personal account I’m talking about, in which I previously owned nothing but United States government bonds. (This description leaves aside my Berkshire Hathaway holdings, which are all committed to philanthropy.) If prices keep looking attractive, my non-Berkshire net worth will soon be 100 percent in United States equities.

There was a time when this alone would have been good for a 5% market rally.