Wow!

Wow! The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 770.59 points (6.92%) yesterday as the US congress failed to approve the terms for the proposed US$700bn bailout that was supposed to save sinking financial markets.

The tech heavy Nasdaq went down 199.61 points (9.14%). Unless a miracle happens today, we're likely to get trashed.

Interestingly though - the Rand is slipping quite drastically and is now trading at around R8.33 to the US dollar.

I'll be he honest - I don't think we have even begun to see the real moves in the Rand / Dollar rate.

The question though is going to be twofold:

- What are our resources going to do with the weaker Rand? (Will the Rand buffer boost them or will they just keep being sold down)

- When the hell are these commodities supposed to bounce?!

Commodities such as base and precious metals were supposed to bounce on the back of increased demand from China following the Olympics. But this doesn't seem to be the case OR the

There is a palpable excitement building around Gold shares / the gold price at the moment and this failed bailout may just be the tonic that is needed to light some serious fires in the precious metals markets.

Gold is now above the psychological barrier of US$900 an ounce. A sliding Rand and a rising gold price is fuel for a run on these shares which creates some great opportunities for traders.

I maintain my exposure to the precious metals / Rand Hedge market through a small call position on Impala Platinum. For the rest of the market it still looks pretty grim.