SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

The selling this week is being attributed by the pundits to 'tax selling.'

I won't debate that, but I will say that if the selling continues next week it probably is not tax related, but related to overly high valuations and a thorough wash and rinse.

The momentum stocks in tech continued to lead the way down, with JPM contributing something to the Dow Industrials (what an abomination to include JPM in the Dow Industrials) with its miss in the quarterly numbers this morning.

Unemployment claims came in low, but PPI came in a bit hot. But the selling looks more like a game of trader tag more than any reflection of fundamentals getting better or worse.

I own *no* stocks here, but I was giving it some serious thought today, miners-wise. But I decided to wait for next week.

Have a pleasant evening.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Gold Continues Higher

Gold led the way higher as silver is still stuck around the 20 handle.

It had the feel of a 'flight to safety' as stocks took it on the chin, including the miners.

Let's see what happens. 

 

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - The Next Big Move Is the One To Watch

The spec dip buyers must have been piling on yesterday, and after this morning's better than expected unemployment claims number.  Because stocks got clocked, and hard, back down through near support.

It is going to take a another down move with a solid break of 1800 to get my bearish juices flowing, because for now I think that they are just playing.

The algos are just riding around, playing tag with each other, and killing any human beings that happen to wander into the markets.

Have a pleasant evening.

 

Nomi Prins - All the President's Bankers: The Hidden Alliances That Drive American Power

This is from the book summary at Amazon.com:

"Culled from original presidential archival documents, All the Presidents’ Bankers delivers an explosive account of the hundred-year interdependence between the White House and Wall Street that transcends a simple analysis of money driving politics—or greed driving bankers.

Prins ushers us into the intimate world of exclusive clubs, vacation spots, and Ivy League universities that binds presidents and financiers. She unravels the multi-generational blood, intermarriage, and protégé relationships that have confined national influence to a privileged cluster of people. These families and individuals recycle their power through elected office and private channels in Washington, DC...

Prins divulges how, through the Cold War and Vietnam era, presidents and bankers pushed America’s superpower status and expansion abroad, while promoting broadly democratic values and social welfare at home. But from the 1970s, Wall Street’s rush to secure Middle East oil profits altered the nature of political-financial alliances. Bankers’ profit motive trumped heritage and allegiance to public service, while presidents lost control over the economy—as was dramatically evident in the financial crisis of 2008."