Stocks Fall; America In Ruins

Not much in the way of gains or losses with the final numbers, but the range was more significant than yesterday's tired session. The Dow covered nearly 200 points from start to finish, with the requisite last-half-hour rally knocking 75 points off the loss.

There's now little doubt that stocks are in a distribution pattern (meaning they are being distributed from the hands of those who bought them low to the hands of those stupid enough to buy them now. Also telling is the pattern of trade, which for the second time in the past four days, showed upticks in the morning and concerted selling later, an obvious sign of a market ready to capitulate.

Of course, such capitulation may take weeks or even months to play out, as investors, a sometimes stubborn bunch, on the one hand may not be willing to part with some stocks, while others may not be so easily induced to buy into a rally that has persisted for so long, so the process could be tiresome, to say the least. More on this point below.

Dow 8,739.02, -24.04 (0.27%)
Nasdaq 1,853.08, -7.05 (0.38%)
S&P 500 939.15, -3.28 (0.35%)
NYSE Composite 6,098.06, -3.51 (0.06

Advancing issues were overwhelmed by decliners, 3648-2713, but new highs bested new lows for the fourth straight day, 87-72. This is a landmark worthy of note, being the first four-day run of more new highs than new lows in 21 months. The caveat is that stocks were already being taken down during this same period of 2008, so many new highs weren't very high, though quite a few new lows were being made. It may be best to put away notions about that one indicator being significant for the time being, or, at least until the end of summer, or until it rolls back over again. We should actually be expecting more new highs than lows, considering the size of the recent rally. Additionally, the period between June and September 2008 was one of the least volatile of recent vintage. Once the dow dipped below 12,000 on June 20, they remained in the range of 10,962 to 11,842 until September 17.

Volume was better than it had been the first two days of the week, and that is significant, especially in light of the hard selling off the morning rise.

NYSE Volume 1,220,393,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,375,555,000

Oil made another new high, spiking another $1.32, to $71.33. Gold was unchanged at $954.70, while silver added 9 cents, to $15.23.

Fiat's deal with Chrysler was finalized today, as the Supreme Court refused to hear arguments by a number of Indiana pension funds and lifted their stay. Thus, the highest court in the land can now be counted upon to deliver decisions wholly unconstitutional or not hear arguments in which they would have to uphold long-standing precedents. Clearly, our entire system of government is completely off the rails and cannot be trusted to do anything in the public interest.

The United States used to be a nice country where the rule of law was sacrosanct. Kiss those days good-bye. Those in power over the past 40 years have abused it to the point at which the future of the nation looks dismal and ruined. Best advice for now is to just pack up and leave.