Lane....
I am still not sure what the reasoning is, and your guess about the European insurance companies (I understand the banks are having trouble also over there) could be a part of it, although I am not sure how our markets fit into that. Whatever the reasons, the dollar ramp this morning is amazing, given the news background and that plus the whacking of gold tells me they are serious. Like Zeev just said, it's hard to fight those guys.
Someone asked how we come to the conclusion that it is the PPT rather than just a rally. First, the market was already overbought and into resistance. Second, the ramp started overnight, after a drop in the Nikkei. Third, all the elements were there - ramping the dollar, ramping the futures, crushing gold, simultaneous large buys "at the market" in waves for IBM, INTC, MSFT, CSCO, and GE, with strongest buying coming when the negative LEI news (biggest drop since 09/11, down for 4th straight month) was reported - hardly a news background for an ultra strong dollar and market. To me, aberrant trading in that pattern is the hallmark of PPT intervention into the market, and fortunately I noted the signs early and covered my shorts - unfortunately, I misjudged the intensity of today's entry and re-shorted too soon - waiting for a pullback to cover. My best rule is to stay out of the market when they are in - it works great when the market is oversold, but a rally like today is tough to play.
mlsoft
AI
