Market Today

[RecycleMichael]

Gaspar was just sharing what others were saying. I saw the stories and pundits saying the exact same as him at the same time.

That is why I went against the advice. Anytime I see crowds going one direction, I head the other way.

[Townsend]

That is why I went against the advice. Anytime I see crowds going one direction, I head the other way.

You'd be toast in Godzilla movies.

[Conan71]

Something else has/is happening to the market:

People aren't near as concerned about building long-term equity in corporations as they are with a) making relatively quick and easy wealth or b) protecting their assets in falling markets.

Our parents and grandparents invested in the market for long-term growth and pretty well ignored daily market fluctuations.  The advent of on-line trading has made it a more treacherous investment world for everyone.  Back when you had to use a broker to make your buy and sell orders, you also got a dose of caution or advice prior to placing your order.  Now people can and do trade on raw emotion of the moment.  If the market opens 100 points down from the previous trading day, sheeple start selling like mad to avoid a loss or to take a profit which puts further downward pressure on stocks.

That's why a lot of the market shake-ups defy previously-held logic.  With fluctuations in the 500 to 1000 point range, there's plenty of room to buy and sell shares relatively safely, and make tidy profits even after short term cap gains taxes.  It's a day-trader's dream right now.

[we vs us]

Something else has/is happening to the market:

People aren't near as concerned about building long-term equity in corporations as they are with a) making relatively quick and easy wealth or b) protecting their assets in falling markets.

Our parents and grandparents invested in the market for long-term growth and pretty well ignored daily market fluctuations.  The advent of on-line trading has made it a more treacherous investment world for everyone.  Back when you had to use a broker to make your buy and sell orders, you also got a dose of caution or advice prior to placing your order.  Now people can and do trade on raw emotion of the moment.  If the market opens 100 points down from the previous trading day, sheeple start selling like mad to avoid a loss or to take a profit which puts further downward pressure on stocks.

That's why a lot of the market shake-ups defy previously-held logic.  With fluctuations in the 500 to 1000 point range, there's plenty of room to buy and sell shares relatively safely, and make tidy profits even after short term cap gains taxes.  It's a day-trader's dream right now.

And actually, it's not just sheeple.  It's actual trading algorithms and bot programs that execute trades. 

Literally, AIs are responsible for a lot of our current market volatility.

[Gaspar]

Gaspar was just sharing what others were saying. I saw the stories and pundits saying the exact same as him at the same time.

That is why I went against the advice. Anytime I see crowds going one direction, I head the other way.

I'm actually quite happy with the advances the market has been making in the past couple of weeks.  I don't mind being wrong when it's making me money.  Your Milwaukee's Best is cooling in the beer fridge. 

It was Milwaukee's Best wasn't it?

[Red Arrow]

We have a bet.

12 bottles of Marshall's it is.

Depends on how you spell Milwaukee.  I think you got the "M" correct.

[swake]

Way up again today. It's up 175 now standing at 10837

[Conan71]

Way up again today. It's up 175 now standing at 10837

There's finally some good news to get excited about.  A rise in orders for machinery and computers certainly signals some optimism in the economy.  This is the sort of news which starts to inspire confidence in hiring, not a 3% tax cut, not stimulus spending to pet donors, er projects.

"Durable goods orders in August fell 1.3%, though less the volatile transportation sector, orders for U.S. goods actually rose 4.1%.  A steep drop in aircraft orders contributed heavily to the decline.

Excluding the transportation sector, durable goods orders had their best month in five in August.

Factory orders for machinery jumped 3.9% in August, compared to a steep 9.6% drop the prior month.  Computers also saw strong demand with orders rising 12% while communications equipment saw a 9.2% gain.

Economists have been worried that July's drop in durable goods orders would repeat itself in August, signaling serious problems in the manufacturing sector which has driven the U.S. economy in coming out of the recession in 2009.  The term "double dip recession" now appears to be off the table.

Stock futures reacted positively to the Commerce Department report with the DJIA up 107 at 10,713.  The S&P 500 gained 12.7 basis points to trade at 1,133 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 gained 22.5 to trade at 2,004 just minutes before the opening bell in New York."

http://axcessnews.com/index.php/articles/show/id/20951

[RecycleMichael]

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 197.84, or 1.9 percent, to close at 10,860.26. The Dow has risen 8.4 percent in September.

[Conan71]

...and will get manipulated down for the shorts to profit at some point in the next 6 weeks

[RecycleMichael]

I expect a drop early next week. The pundits will all have some reason why, but I think it will be for people to pay their bookies after this weekend's football upsets.

As I predicted, the Dow dropped 48 points today.

[nathanm]

As I predicted, the Dow dropped 48 points today.

It's the end of the month and the quarter, so it was a pretty safe bet. The market always gets weird near quarter end when options are expiring and ETFs are rolling.

[RecycleMichael]

Ok so my prediction for the week is light trading and after today's 78 point drop will not go up or down more than 30 points on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

On Friday, I predict a good jobs report and see the Dow making a couple of hundred points. We are going to be close to 11,000 on the weekend.

[swake]

Getting really close.

Sitting at 10934 right now. A good jobs report later in the week should push it right over.

[RecycleMichael]

Is today the day the Dow breaks 11,000?

Maybe gaspar should be getting the Marshall's beers on ice...who wants a cold beer?