Today's market events show why the entire world thinks they are dependent on the U.S. economy. There have been some arguments that the foreign markets are not necessarily dependent on the U.S., but facts aside, they believe that they are. One bit of positive news from the Fed results in over 10% increases in China, Malaysia and Taiwan today.

I have been wanting to buy some new ETFs as I sold my India fund shares when it went $3 below my initial purchase price. I still made money on it because I received two years' worth of hefty dividend payouts (and paid 10% less taxes on the gains). Still, the absolute fear of losing any more money, after being burned on past trades, keep me from taking any action. When your emotions get in the way, you cannot invest successfully. I am too pissed off about (a) losing money and (b) missed opportunities to be good at this. I'm about to buy a dad-gum S&P 500 index fund and forget about this silly hobby.