There was a big rally today that started last night with the futures. The demimonde had its media spokesmodels out cheerleading early on. They became almost apoplectic on a slightly better than expected ISM number that was still rather dismal, all things considered.
If one bothered to look beyond the headlines to the new orders and inventories, it was apparent that they portend a further decline in activity. But that sort of thing is not said when the rally monkeys are in heat.
Stocks ran up to overhead resistance levels, and continued to be led largely by the SP futures, with the broader market lagging the push higher.
Whenever this happens it is hard not to be skeptical of the character of the rally. The Jobs Report is on Friday, with the ADP report on Wednesday morning. Consensus for the Friday Jobs is a loss of 87,000, and for the ADP report expectations are for a gain of 25,000.
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“Thus, it should be understood that when pro-US figures use the term, 'rules-based international order,' they are not referring to anything analogous to the rule of law. Quite the opposite, they are using Orwellian language to describe a system in which essentially no rules can be established and/or observed, given that the dominant state has the prerogative to violate and/or rewrite “rules” at its whim.” Aaron Good, American Exception