Train, mkt lore, PREM, SP500 futures, odds'n ends
Two old bits of mkt lore - as Zeev has said, it
never hurts to take a profit. Several have
questioned good position during deflation or
depression. From the 1930's (if not before):
"Cash is King". I don't know a free site for real
time index futures unless you have a futures
account, but as said by OJ SI, longtime lore is
that the futures are the driver - thus SP500
futures are key; nearest month now is Dec: sp02z
is symbol. As Train has been describing so well,
the PREM is a result (not a cause) of futures
buying and selling pressures. Real time PREM
values are available.
More lore - when you wonder about the validity
of sudden news or other striking events which
might affect mkts, then watch futures not
stocks. Both can over-react, be mistaken, etc,
but the real effects nearly always appear earlier
and with less emotion in the futures pits - not
in the stock markets. Futures are freer markets,
less subject to manipulation (no middleman), and
have a lot more money riding on them.
Index futures close 15 min. AFTER the stock mkts
close. Go to Lycos, look at sp02z, select showing
24 hr. chart, and select 1 min. bars. Very
interesting - futures rose steadily and sharply
in their final 15 mins. - 6 or 8 full points
after stocks closed! You must judge whether this
was new longs or if short covering, but it surely
was a substantial move that began instantly after
stocks closed.
Obviously, all preceeding are arguable, but for
whatever they might be worth to provide a bit
more background for some. My apologies to those
who are yawning. <grin> Have a great weekend.
And a special thanks to Zeev.
Cheers,
tol (Maury)
AI
Market Data 
Markets 
