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The enforcement efforts this month are part of the national Click It or Ticket enforcement mobilization.
Seat belts prevent ejection, which is one of the leading causes of death and serious injury during a crash.
Officials say that last year in Virginia, 54 percent of all traffic fatalities, or 310 deaths, were unrestrained drivers and passengers. And most of the unrestrained fatalities occurred between the hours of 6 p.m. and 3 a.m.
Now, 14 years since Alex was born, I am now uttering a phrase that is scary and life-changing: I have cancer.
It’s been difficult to get accustomed to saying it; it can’t be true. Even more frightening is my diagnosis: I have Stage 4 lung cancer, meaning the cancer has spread.
As a Reuters journalist I have been writing about medical technology and healthcare for more than a decade. I’ve covered the major medical meetings, including the big one on cancer. I’ve written stories about new cancer drugs and treatments, about how many more survive the disease (true for breast, colon and some other forms, though not so much for lung cancer), and how a diagnosis can lead to bankruptcy, even for those with health insurance.
I wrote those stories objectively and never imagined any would ever apply to me.
The morning of my 50th birthday last year, I looked up at the August sky — a soft blue with puffy clouds — and thought how lucky I was to have good health. I stopped smoking 15 years ago and became a vegetarian decades before that. Up until my diagnosis in March of this year — discovered after I suffered terrible pain in my rib, from the cancer spreading to the bone there, I would learn — I was a regular runner, cyclist, tennis player, skier, and struggling yogi. I loved them all and hope to resume some day.
If there has been an upside to this dreaded disease it is that people are so kind when they find out I have cancer, even nicer than when I was pregnant with my two children. Loved ones seem to love me more, or tell me so more often. Everyone wants to do things for me and offer help. The love has come from some unexpected people and warms my heart in indescribable ways. At times, the outpouring feels as if it could actually cure me.
With this blog, I have decided to take what I know and try to give back, in a way. I will share my experiences, and when I use my reporting skills to satisfy my curiosity about new treatments, the ups and downs of the disease, feelings of mortality and so forth—I will use the blog to tell the stories. The blog will report on the latest cancer research from the perspective of a patient.
After all, I have been writing health stories for years. There seems no reason to stop now that my health is so compromised.
Stage 4 lung cancer is incurable. I know the odds of long-term survival are not in my favor. I am undergoing treatment at one of the top cancer centers in America, M.D. Anderson in Houston. The hope is that it will extend my life and improve the quality of what’s left.
The days ahead will be filled with uncertainty, but I know I there are at least a few truths that will not change. I will always need an oncologist. I can count on my family and friends. And I will never stop wondering how many August skies I will get to see.
Does Researcher Turned Activist = No Funding?
I received my colo-rectal cancer diagnosis in late March and I agree that the outpouring of support frm family, friends, coworkers & strangers has been amazing. I’ve completed 6 weeks of chemo/rad and am in 4th week recuperation with surgery and a probable clostomy loomin.
Good luck onyour journey. Take refuge and succor where ever you can find it!
Have you watched the documentary “Dying to Have Known”?
You are very brave. Good luck and God bless.
My husband is currently going through chemotherapy in Dallas for cancer that hsa spread to his lungs (stage 4 non small cell lung cancer). His last scan three weeks ago showed that his tumors were not responding to his current chemo. We are in the process of seeing what we can try next. I was hoping you could tell me what chemotherapy you ar currently undergoing and if that has been working for you. I really appreciate your insight and advice. This has been very hard on my husband and our family. We have an 8 year old daughter that really needs him as well as I do.
I’ve heard those exact words November 2012. After two surgeries and radiation, I am slowly recovering. Although we have different cancers, different stages, your blog could have been about me. Friends and family came out of the wood work to take care of me, to send me cards and well wishes, they were all there for me. So many hugs, so much love, and so needed. You will cry often, sometimes over nothing in particular. It’s an emotional roller coaster. This is an evil disease, which sneaks up on you, and throws your whole life off balance. I ran the Marine Corp Marathon a month before my diagnosis, never been healthier… I will be following your blog, and always remember to remain positive! Cancer loves stress, I believe as to how it got me.
Debra, I will pray for you. I pray the Lord heal you from head to toe. He is the master physician. Don’t just focus on the doctors and what they say; focus on Him.
God bless you and your family. What a remarkable woman you are to be speaking of all the good in your life in spite of your diagnosis. You’re a hero.
Thank you for sharing this with the world. It may mean someone goes to get screening/treatment sooner.
The widespread screening of people with extended smoking history is controversial. How do you see that through your new lens?
Also, have heard from others that advocacy groups feel lung cancer has a special stigma. People may not say it – but they think “you contributed to your own disease” in a way that does not apply to other cancers. Interested in your take on that.
I cleared my lung cancer using low-dose naltrexone. My Dr. would not prescribe it, I had to hunt down one that would but it worked.
Sorry to hear you have cancer, i know first hand from perspective of son how hard it is to deal with it. Lost my mother 7 months ago due cancer. We had long and hard fight with it until it finally got the best of her after almost 4 years.
Stay strong and don’t let negative thoughts take over you even though it might seem like its over, theres miracles that happen.
I went through treatment at MDACC, as did my son. There’s no better place for it and I’ve seen some people with pretty grim diagnoses still manage to pull through. One woman who was told she’d be dead by now is still alive and hanging in there.
So don’t feel defeated. Check out the clinical trials and the targeted therapies. I’m hoping the best for you, and sending you hugs.
Debra, thanks for your honesty.
So sorry to read that your cancer is incurable, so glad to read though that you have family and friends who are surrounding you with love. Thank you for sharing your story.
Life is short and death is certain. This truth gives me renewed vigour whenever I’m reminded of it, be it because I see the will to live in a person who appreciates living and won’t get to see all the sunrises they wish they could, the sign of the new day. Or when I take a moment to think about the inevitably of losing all that I’ve acquired with my short existence. I hope you get to see many more blue skies, I hope the wonders of modern medicine help you to do so. I look forward to reading about your experiences, and hope they give those who read them a perspective they may be lacking, one that implies action in realizing their dreams before they become regrets, and appreciating what they have now.
I am feeling every feeling you are writing about Debra. We all know only too well your feelings. I pray you experience hours or days in your life that you don’t even think about cancer. My thoughts are with you. We were hit very hard. Cancer took our home, our life savings, and even our dignity at times.
Thank you for making the choice to serve the cancer community during your own battle with this dreaded disease. My father died from lung cancer five years ago. We were shocked to learn of his diagnosis – sure his medical care had been lacking (he’s previously gotten flying colors on a physical only months before the discovery). The more we learned about the disease, however, the more we realized it was the nature of lung cancer and not medical oversight. The facts need to be brought to light – but more importantly the human story needs to be told. There is such a dirth of compassion, outrage and advocacy for lung cancer as a whole. Perhaps your words and experience can help change that.
Our hearts and prayers go out to you.
Let me correct something you said in your post which I think you need to know.
My wife was diagnosed back in 2003 with Stage IV NCSLC. She too was treated at MD Anderson …still is after 10 years. We go back every 6 months for follow up – we drive from San Jose to Houston – part of our “celebrate life” routine.
When he Medical Radiologist first met her, he told he he thought he could cure her. And for 10 years she has been health well and her cancer under control…if not defeated. (One never knows).
People do survive beyond the gloomy 6 months often talked about in the literature. I know not just from my wife …but from the other long terms survivors we counsel and keep in touch with.
One more vote for watching this documentary!
Thank you so much for sharing your journey. You are providing a lot of much needed information. My thoughts are with you and I look forward to reading your blog for years to come.
The Scientific American Flying Machine Trophy. In presenting this trophy to the Aero Club of America the publishers of the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN have recognized that the conquest of the air may not come through dirigible gas bags, but through the perfection of aeroplanes, machines which are heavier than air. The cup is offered for competition among the heavier-than-air machines and, year by year, as aeroplanes are developed, the conditions governing the contest will be readjusted. The cup stands 32 inches high and is a magnificent trophy of wrought silver mounted on a pedestal of onyx. At the base of the pedestal-shaft, graceful winged silver horses spring forth ridden by figures bearing olive branches. The shaft is surmounted by a whirlwind bearing a globe representing the firmament. On one side of the globe is the American continent, while on the other an aeroplane soars through the clouds, challenging the swallows in their flight. The whole is crowned by an American eagle, bearing a wreath of victory. The cup is of American manufacture and is valued at $2,500. The Gordon Bennett International Cup. The Gordon Bennett cup was offered in 1906 as an international trophy for long-distance balloon racl's. At the initial contest one American balloon piloted by Lieut. Lahm was entered, and bore off the coveted trophy against fifteen competitors. The cup is a fine example of the silversmith's art and was modeled in accordance with suggestions made by the donor. The design represents a dirigible balloon, supported by clouds, and led in its course by a winged figure bearing in one hand the torch of science, and in the other a wreath of victory. On the body of the dirigible balloon, on one side, spherical balloons are shown high in the air and an aeroplane begins its flight. On the other side are shown a parachute and two Montgolfier balloons. The cup was constructed in Paris at a cost of $2,500. The Lahm Aeronautic Cup. On the receipt of news that Lieut. Lahm was bringing the Gordon Bennett trophy to America, the Aero Club of America decided to commemorate the victory by offering a cup for distance contests. As the Sci-ENTIFIC AMERICAN and the Gordon Bennett trophies suggest aeroplanes and dirigible balloons respectively, so this one honors the spherical gas-bag, the lineal descendant of Montgolfier's balloons. This feature is 1\ faithful reproduction of a balloon, supported lightly by the wing tips of two female figures whose out stretched hands hold wreaths of victory. The lower limbs of the figures blend into the outstretched wings of supporting eagles, perched on small spheres rising from a firmament of stars and planets. Below Is a portion of the northern hemisphere, which rests on an ebony base set with silver plates to bear the names of the winners of the trophy. The cup was made in New York at a eost of $1,500. Tbe Prevention of Fire at Sea. The recent alarming fire on the steamer "Fortunat-us" shows again the insufficiency of the methods adopted on most vessels to protect themselves against such an outbreak. A good 'fire appliance has not only before it the task of subduing a fire, but specially of saving the cargo from being damaged by water. In many cases after the fire has been finally extinguished, it has been found that the water damage far exceeded the damage by fire. It is therefore obvious that an ideal fire appliance can only be of a purely chemical nature. It is not only the prevention of water damage which tells so much in favor of the use on board ship of a chemical fire protection. There is another reason, well known and feared in shipping circle, viz, that a fire cannot always be extinguished in cer tain goods, especially in cotton bales. Such a cargo is not only easily combustible, but a fire in it cannot readily be checked, the water acting, as it were, as a source of oxygen. A gas, moreover, permeates all the small channels of woolen fibers which water is unable to reach. Similarly, water cannot extinguish a fire on an oil steamer, although it is easy work for a chemical fire appliance to do so. Among the chemical fire appliances now in use at sea may be mentioned that known as the "Gronwald" system. It consists, briefly stated, of an apparatus through which carbonic acid gas is passed into perforated pipes, which are so fixed in the hold as to allow a good distribution of the gas. The gas is carried in the ordinary steel cylinders that are used for refrigerating plants on board vessels," the numbjr of the cylinders depending on the size of the ship. From the steel cylinders the gas passes into the apparatus, where it expands before entering the pipe system in the compartments. To facilitate the flov-of the gas, steam from the ship's boilers is let through a special arrangement of the apparatus. Each hold can be worked independently, the apparatus recommended for ordinary steamers and sailing ships of any size being portable. For its operation no machinery is required, the gas working under its own pressure. The steam passing through the apparatus Is merely for the purpose of heating the latter to aid in the expansion and flow of the CO, gas, and to prevent the formation of snow. The "Gronwald" system is not a gas-generating pLant requiring special skill for its operation. The gas is always ready for instant use, and this is obviously a very important point. The "Gronwald" CO, system is, above all, adapted for the prevention of spontaneous combustion and ignition. As soon as the air in a hold reaches an abnormally high temperature several bottles of liquid CO, can be discharged into the hold in order to displace the air from it, so cutting off the supply of oxygen, the source of every outbreak of fire. At the same time the liquid CO,, which has been so far in a liquid state, will evaporate rapidly and deprive the surroundings of its heat, thus lowering the temperature in the hold by 30 deg. and more—a point in its favor which, it is stated, no chemical fire appliance except the CO, system can claim. Another virtue of the CO, gas is that it is a thoroughly neutral gas. It does not affect the most delicate cargoes, as those of silk, tobacco, and wine. This is contrary to the action of most other chemicals, which damage many such cargoes and also the fittings of the ship if they happen to be wet or moist. The last state of that ship may be worse than the first under such conditions. For fire extinguishing purposes it is not necessary absolutely to fill up the hold with CO, gas, but the admixture of a certain percentage of gas to the oxygen in the space is quite sufficient, this depending on the nature of the burning goods, and ranging from 10 to 25 per cent. Taking as the outside limit an admixture of 25 per cent, the "Gronwald" appliances are able to fill with even so high a percentage as 25 per cent in about one hour's time a space of 67,200 cubic feet, which means the contents of 48 steel cylinders of 40 pounds liquid CO, each. According to the size of the ship, a number of 50 to 70 cylinders of CO, is a very fair supply for fire protection. Vessels having refrigerating installations can, of course. combine the use of the cylinders both for refrigerating and fire appliances, if provided with an ample stock. The Japanese government intends to spend $75.000.000 during the next five years on railway construction and equiiiment. Among other items, appropriations are made for doubling 830 miles of track, and for constructing 900 locomotives, 1,000 passenger cars, and 19,000 freight cars. This is made by taking an ordinary one-pc standard clincher rim, and cutting it into two equal parts by removing about a quarter of an inch from the center of the rim all the way around. The inside half is securely fastened to a plain steel band upon the felloe of the wheel. 'The outside or removable half of the rim slips over this band, and is drawn toward the permanent half by a stiff ring which is drawn up by ordinary bolts through the felloe of the wheel. In this manner the width of the clincher rim may be slightly varied, and the edges of the clincher tire may be drawn closer together than the standard clincher measurement, or be left slightly farther apart. This variation in the width of the tire is so small as to cause no injury to the tire, and yet it is sufficient to take up the stretch in the casing and to afford any requir. -1 degree of inflation. This principle of Inflating a tire by drawing the casing tightly about a filled inner tube is entirely new, and applications have been made for patents in the United States and all foreign countries. Air under pressure in a tire expands and contracts according to the temperature, and an air-inflated tire is therefore subjected to a constantly varying pressure, and consequently to a constantly varying wear; while a tire inflated with an elastic solid material is always subjected to a constant pressure from with-for the reason that the filler expands and contracts in substantially the same ratio as the rubber itself. A tire thus inflated is never rim cut, owing to flat running, and the automobile owner can obtain from his tires an amount of wear which is as constant as that which he will receive from a suit of clothes. This affords a very great saving, but the greatest advantage of all is that tires filled with the new substance are no more affected by punctures than is a pin cushion by the pins that are stuck into it; even punctures from bolts or railway spikes will not ordinarily let the filler escape. When a really large and serious cut or break occurs in the casing, a tire bandage or gaiter will repair the damage sufficiently for the journey to be completed, and, in many cases, a tire will run hundreds of miles with such a temporary repair. Tires so inflated ride just as smoothly as tires inflated with air at the same pressure, and it is impossible even for an expert to tell from the outside of a tire whether it is inflated with this substance or with air.
Canadian National Railway beat analyst expectations as its profits grew 20 per cent to $1.03 billion in the second quarter on higher revenues.
Canadian National Railway beat analyst expectations as its profits grew 20 per cent to $1.03 billion in the second quarter on record quarterly revenues.
The Montreal-based railway earned $1.36 per diluted share, up from $1.10 a year earlier when it posted $858 million in net income.
Excluding a tax recovery, the railway earned $1.01 billion or $1.34 per share for the period ended June 30. That's up from $865 million or $1.11 per share in the second quarter of 2016.
Revenues grew 17 per cent to $3.3 billion, led by metals and coal, which were both up by 33 per cent. Grains and fertilizers increased 23 per cent, automotive 20 per cent, intermodal 17 per cent, petroleum and chemicals 12 per cent, and forest products six per cent.
Carloads were up 11.8 per cent, above the industry average of 4.6 per cent.
Volumes were helped by record hauling of international containers, automotive finished vehicles and frac sand for oil and gas drilling, which was up 175 per cent. Canadian grain carloads were up 23 per cent.
CN Rail was expected to earn $1.31 per share in adjusted profits on $3.25 billion of revenues, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
Railway president and CEO Luc Jobin said the country's largest railway delivered a solid performance on strong volume growth.
"Looking ahead, we hold a positive view of the economic environment, and we expect to have volume growth in the second half, although we will be facing some tougher comparisons versus last year," he said in a conference call Tuesday.
The railway is maintaining its earnings guidance for the full year even if a rising Canadian dollar eats away some profits.
"We continue to see favourable economic conditions in North America, including a stronger than expected Canadian economy," added chief financial officer Ghislain Houle.
He said consumer confidence remains positive while a strong energy sector is driving frac sand and crude volumes, even it doesn't foresee a big growth in crude-by-rail for the year.
The operating ratio, a measure of efficiency that balances revenue with expenses, worsened by 60 basis points in the quarter to 55.1 per cent over the prior-year quarter.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — What if you were governor of Illinois and didn't have a thing to wear?
If you're J.B. Pritzker, you look at your daily schedule.
During his first six weeks in office, Pritzker's appointment calendar includes 70 "attire" recommendations for events as varied as bill signings, a state police officer's funeral, a White House dinner, surveying flood damage, and cocktails with legislators at the Illinois Governor's Mansion.
Pritzker, among the nation's 400 richest people, needs sartorial suggestions?
He's not alone. Joseph Rosenfeld, a fashion and personal style strategist in New York who's from the Illinois city of Buffalo Grove, maps out wardrobes with all his C-Suite executives. "It comes back to one basic premise: relatability," he said.
Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said staff members get suggestions from organizers of the governor's events, but the governor ultimately decides what to wear.
Fifty-five of the recommendations on the calendar, disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act, were simply, "Business: suit and tie." Khakis, "button-down and pullover," and "polo with Columbia jacket" also make the mix. The Democrat was advised to forgo neckwear when he hosted dinner for union leaders, but "Bring extra tie options" was the note on Feb. 9, the day of his official portrait.
Despite his girth, Pritzker keeps his ties at a proper length, avoiding the long necktie look that President Donald Trump favors. While Pritzker often opts for a blazer and khakis, they're typically crisply pressed — no disheveled "Mom jeans" like those for which former President Barack Obama was excoriated at baseball's 2009 All-Star Game.
"When you wear the right thing, you're message-focused," said Patsy Cisneros, CEO of California-based Corporate Icon. "As soon as someone does something that's off — the tie is too long, the color is wrong for the time and place — that will be the focus. What happens to the message of the day?"
Gubernatorial fashion in Illinois gets a lot of attention. Disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's tailor regularly toted material swatches to the governor's Chicago office. Gov. Pat Quinn had a "lucky" purple striped tie — more than one, as it turned out. Near-billionaire Gov. Bruce Rauner eschewed neckties with suits, wore big belt buckles, plaid shirts with rhinestone snaps, and a leather vest while astride his motorcycle.
Jim Edgar, the Republican governor from 1991-1999, kept it simple. Indoors — or even at a late-season University of Illinois football game — he donned one of a dozen or so dark blue or gray suits. For a parade or picnic in fair weather, he had the same number of blue polo shirts and khakis. But there were fashion fails. Once, he was told his khakis were too light to wear in October. Another time, staff members drew straws to assign the task of telling Edgar to ditch a favorite pair of shoes.
"Times were different," said Edgar, who frowns on the current trend of suits with no neckwear. "I always thought you had to dress the part. You're the governor. You set the tone. ... You have to show respect for the crowd, whoever the audience is."
Democrat Quinn agreed that a governor dressed too casually "diminishes the person and the office." He said his ties of purple, the color of mourning, were appropriate for the more than 300 military funerals he attended while he was lieutenant governor (2003-2009) and governor (2009-2015).
"I'm not exactly a 'clothes horse' to begin with. I have three or four suits, a few shirts and ties. You wear those six, seven days a week. When they wore out, I went to Men's Wearhouse."
Rosenfeld said the fact that Pritzker's wardrobe guidance is made public "is sort of telling in itself."
"He's being deliberate, intentional, thoughtful," Rosenfeld said. "That is respectful of the public, the people he's dealing with, the way he serves as an officeholder."
Associated Press researcher Jennifer Farrar in New York and writer Caryn Rousseau in Chicago contributed to this report.
Follow Political Writer John O'Connor at https://twitter.com/apoconnor .
The sounds bamboo chopsticks emit when they’re snapped in half are remarkably similar to the laws that govern the magnitude and frequency of earthquakes. Such insights could one day help engineers determine more precisely when a bridge or dam, for instance, might be about to fail.
There’s a thriving community of researchers who study how things fracture. There are seismologists, to be sure, but also physicists and materials scientists, who study how various materials fail in hopes of manufacturing more robust airplane wings, or stronger glass for car windshields. Typically, a crack begins to form inside the material in response to an outside force, like a rock hitting a windshield. The crack will then spread faster and faster, branching out in a pattern reminiscence of herringbone or a lightning bolt, until the material’s structure fails completely.
The sounds produced as cracks propagate through materials are useful for acoustic monitoring. That technology is routinely used to detect possible cracks in structures like bridges, dams, or buildings that may not be immediately perceptible via traditional monitoring methods. The better scientists understand those sounds, the better our acoustic monitoring systems will be.
In the past, scientists have studied things like the acoustic properties of concrete, charcoal, paper, rock, and wood plates, and found striking similarities to the acoustic emissions of earthquakes. But those objects tend to fracture in multiple places—even dry spaghetti, which was the subject of a 2005 study examining why a bunch of spaghetti almost never snaps into two pieces. This makes it challenging to interpret experimental data.
That’s where the chopsticks come in—specifically the bamboo variety so common to Taiwan and China. In a new paper in Physical Review Letters, physicists from National Taiwan University describe how they chose to study the sound of bamboo chopsticks snapping because bamboo rarely fractures in multiple spots at the same time.
The results: the crackling noises produced by a breaking bamboo chopstick (and a bundle of dry spaghetti) indicated that there was one main shock wave, followed by several aftershocks as the cracks propagated through the bamboo — in keeping with the three common laws governing earthquakes and aftershocks.
They also found parallels with Omori’s law and Bath’s law, which describe the behavior of aftershocks: namely, the rate of aftershocks decreases quickly with time, and the difference in magnitude between a main shock and its largest aftershock is roughly constant. In short, “The statistics of these acoustic events is shown to correlate with that of tremor,” the authors concluded in their paper.
Images: Tsai, S-.T. et al./National Taiwan University.
This April, Lee Valley Regional Park has plenty of activities for families to enjoy together, from hair-raising racing on the BMX track at the Lee Valley VeloPark to a Learn to Skate course at the Lee Valley Ice Centre. Whatever your age, Lee Valley Regional Park has something for all to enjoy this Easter.
Kick start the Easter break in exhilarating fashion on a family rafting adventure, as you test your wit and skill on the Olympic course at Lee Valley White Water Centre. Friends and families can create memories together with raft charters (maximum 9 people) and individual seats available.
Taking place at Lee Valley Velopark, this event will feature an exciting programme of track cycling competition alongside an array of family fun activities from face painting and balance bikes to the Velodrome pump track and Juggling Jim’s Silly Bikes workshop.
Across the seven hour race programme, more than 100 participants, including Olympic, national and world champion riders will compete in a full schedule of sprint and endurance events. Bring the family and enjoy a fantastic spectacle of track cycling to start the Easter weekend.
Learn a new skill this Easter break and book onto an introductory ice skating course. This Skate UK program covers Level 1 and elements of Level 2 skating with qualified NISA instructors and provides a safe and fun way to learn the basics of skating.
The five day course includes; half hour group lessons, free skate hire, pass certificate and free entry onto the 11.00am to 1.00pm public skating session so you can practice what you learn on the course.
The Easter Bunny is making a special guest appearance at Lee Valley Park Farms this April, bringing exciting treats for boys and girls who visit the farm during the Easter holidays.
Come and meet the Easter Bunny and join in his annual Easter Egg Hunt Trail, which will challenge visitors to find a prize hidden around the 17 acre family attraction using a series of clues.
The Easter Baby Boom will also be in full swing at the farms as the team set to welcome many new arrivals including chicks, lambs and more. Children can bottle-feed lambs, as well as saying hello to the other 300 animals at the farm.
So much for a relief rally.
Stocks spiked in the hour after the Federal Reserve announced its intention to keep the key federal funds rate at rock-bottom levels for another month at least. But markets soon beat a speedy retreat, and opened Friday significantly lower.
Perhaps even more telling is the action in the CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the prices of options on the S&P 500 and hence the magnitude of expected moves in stocks. It is often known as the market's "fear gauge," because it will rise as investors pay more to hedge their market exposure.
This index, the VIX, opened Friday 7 percent higher than where it opened Thursday.
Since the VIX is itself highly volatile, that's not actually as large a move as it may sound. But the fact that the index is up should be kind of striking.
After all, this Fed announcement was widely considered to be the most anxiety-provoking event markets have had to contend with in months. And Thursday, the central bank chose to not only keep rates ultralow, but also to release a statement that didn't point to an imminent hike ahead. That might have been expected to calm investors.
Instead, the price of protection is rising a bit as the market drops, reflecting the typical inverse relationship between the two. And the VIX is back above its long-term average level of 20, after briefly dipping below it Thursday.
In other words, equity investors are not reassured, and the recent spate of market fear has not dissipated. Traders continue to seek protection, with nearly two puts trading for each call on Friday morning.