Today, after the Dow closed down 777 points, I faxed in the application to enable option trading on my brokerage account.  :-)  I'm not actually as speculative as that sounds, though.  My intended investment, LEAPS, is effectively less risky than plain stocks, even before you factor in Taleb's criticisms of the Gaussian bell curve.  Since I'm not cocky enough to think I can reliably time the market, I plan to buy as soon as the feature is enabled.  Thus, I do appreciate all the selling that's occurring in the meantime.  Thanks!