“There’s an old adage, ‘don’t fight the Fed.’ Means that if the Fed is on a tightening course, don’t be long. And if the Fed is lowering rates, as now, don’t be short. Doesn’t always hold true, but often enough to [not] ignore. The Fed has a lot of tools to achieve its objectives.”

A mid-day report that the White House is considering steps to limit investor flows into Chinese equities helped the bears keep control, as the S&P 500 finished the week 1% lower for its worst close since Sept. 4.

Risk is still on. The trend is still up, no hedges on.

This afternoon, the crypto complex absorbed an intense downdraft, with the price of bitcoin falling roughly $1,000 and settling at $8,560.

Stocks came under pressure with the S&P 500 dropping 80 basis points, to narrow its 2019 advance to 18.4%.