Market action today

Gold is being clobbered as is oil.  The Nikkei has crashed.  Bonds are dong well. 

It looks like the same stuff we saw in 2008 initially.  Once the panic hits, people rush into bonds and into the dollar.  But, as time goes on, the dynamic will change a bit. 

If it is anything like 2008, gold will bounce back strongly.  The thing to watch here is how do the Japanese finance their rebuilding efforts?  They are holding a lot of US paper.  I would think that could be vulnerable.  I wouldn't be a buyer of bonds right now, regardless of what's going on today.

Oil may not bounce back as strongly, at least at first.  This earthquake aftermath will put a crimp into the world economy.  Japan is pretty important country, so they influence the big picture.  They are offline right now, but once they come back online, they will still need energy.  This isn't a permanent scenario, so I wouldn't expect this to be a permanent situation with respect to oil.  Demand will return, and with it, prices.