SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - VIX Jumps a Bit As Financials Weigh on Stocks

It is hard to tell if this is the debt ceiling uncertainty weighing today on equities or if punters just took their FOMC profits ahead of another uncertain government confrontation. This is a short term oriented market which means light on fundamentals and heavy on the technical trade.

Not much in the way of economic news this week. Stevie Cohen floated an offer of a settlement on criminal charges for insider trading today, with a billion dollar fine being bandied about, a cost of doing business for Steve who is no stranger to billion dollar paydays.

Blackberry (BBRY) finally got an offer for their troubled business which is $4.7 Billion, a premium of 3% over Friday's close.

"BlackBerry said on Monday that it had reached an agreement to be taken private by a group led by Fairfax Financial Holdings.

The company signed a letter of intent that would pay shareholders $9 a share in cash, a deal that values the faltering smartphone maker at about $4.7 billion, according to a press release. Fairfax already owns 10 percent of BlackBerry."

The company has hit the wall, with a legacy set of users accustomed to its face keeping it afloat but barely. I suspect this private equity company will likely carve the company up, and perhaps retain a small portion of it. Or just rip and strip it, to mark the end of an era.

Have a pleasant evening.