Sandy From A Distance.

"Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communication is warning that winds up to 60 mph could send waves as high as 25 feet crashing along the shoreline," reports the Chicago Tribune.  Sandy's damage is being felt far and wide.  Still the initial reports seem to indicate the damage and loss of life is not as extensive as experts predicted.  I know that the  Rhode Island Branch office of Lumen Capital Management {AKA Summer retreat for the English family-thats for newbies here} lost a few trees and that's about it.  However, Narragansett is quite a ways from the epicenter of the storm which was centered down in New Jersey.

While we can perhaps breath a sigh of relief that things did not hit that worst case scenario, this may be a bit like saying the London Blitz during World War II wasn't so bad if you lived far enough away from the bombings.  We'll have to see in the next few days.  I remember that the initial assessments of Katrina were more upbeat before news of the events in the Superdome, in New Orlean's lower 9th Ward and the breaching of the levees were understood.

Major exchanges are planning to open tomorrow.  I will be back in the morning with a more thorough assessment of where things stand as information comes out.