Nowhere to Run for Suckers

There was nowhere to run for anybody who bought into today's "rally" - and how can it be called a rally if the only people participating are pumping futures from some back office in Hoboken just to get an imaginary boost in the equities markets, shooting everything higher right at the open only to close below that starting point.

Around 2:00 pm EDT there was a major selloff, telltale of the gutless rip-off merchants which have been roaming the canyons of Wall Street the past decade or two. All the markets gave ground, only because those who had bought in the morning, pushing stocks to artificially-inflated levels (they've only been doing it for the past five years, without pause, so they should know what they're doing), decided that it was time to skin some of their own clients, and those of other firms, such is the nature of the game they play.

The equity markets are a sick, tired, stupid joke. One would think that after five years of stimulus by the Fed, the US economy, and maybe even the world economy, would be cranking along at a better clip than what amounts to the "new normal," which is nothing but vapor and badly over-managed economic data that is so far off the mark from reality to be laughable if only it wasn't so sick and perverted.

Speaking of sick and perverse, those who run the show on Wall Street and in the central banking cartel that is destroying the global economy - mostly alumni of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan - are nothing but small, twisted creatures, afraid primarily of their own shadows.

But, it matters none to them, because the people they deal with as clients are smaller, and more frightened, and venal and ignorant and important only to themselves, so the narcissism carries through the entirety of the upper crust, as does vanity and pride and probably a whole of of more than just the seven deadly sins.

These people think their money has value in a better regard than say, friendship, honesty, morality, decency or truth, but, as they have learned from their role models in the political vein, those values don't matter. At the end of the day, everyone is supposedly measures in dollars. And if you ain't got 'em, you ain't nothing.

It's too bad. Seriously, because their pride will bring a fall, as sure as the sun follows the rain and bees make honey. These folks - the bankers and politicians - are nothing but cheap criminals, skimmers, really, who would steal the diamonds off their mother's engagement ring if in dire straits. The people who get nozzled into the game through IRAs, 401ks, pension and other products of financial scammery are suckers only by their willingness and play along because they have not an original idea in their heads.

They might as well just crash the whole thing and start over, The current flimflam that poses as wealth creation or preservation or management is nothing but a semi-sophisticated game of three-card monty. The dealers take their percentage, as does the house, and players chasing the dough generally end up with less on the way out than they had on the way in.

Tough. Win, lose, or go home. Somebody needs another dollar.

Dow 15,179.85, +109.67 (0.73%)
NASDAQ 3,452.13, +28.58 (0.83%)
S&P 500 1,639.04, +12.31 (0.76%)
NYSE Composite 9,337.89, +74.20 (0.80%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,580,505,125
NYSE Volume 3,464,888,250
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 4272-2241
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 259-47
WTI crude oil: 97.77, -0.08
Gold: 1,383.10, -4.50
Silver: 21.76, -0.196

Stocks Finish Lower; Dow, S&P Down 4th Week of Last Five

Bears took back control on Friday, sending the major averages to their fourth session loss of the week. Thursday was the only up day for the markets.

In case anyone wants to figure out what's going on, good luck. Between Fed jawboning and interest rate speculation, VIX movements and the Fed's relentless bond-buying, it's a mixed bag, but the bears seem to have an edge during this period between economic data and second quarter earnings releases, which begin in just over three weeks time.

The Dow and S&P registered their fourth weekly loss in the last five. The strangest indicator came in the form of new highs vs. new lows, where the string of wins by the new 52-week lows was cut off at three, Friday's tape showing the new highs with an unusual advantage on such a largely lower day. Those are telling signals, but more will be revealed about direction upon the conclusion of the FOMC meeting, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, culminating in Bernanke's press conference.

Bias still remains to the downside.

Outside the market, continuing scandals are rocking the capitol, and the US has committed "something" to the Syrian rebels, though details thus far have been sketchy.

As they say in the old school of hard knocks, "another week, another half a dollar."

Dow 15,070.18, -105.90 (0.70%)
NASDAQ 3,423.56, -21.81 (0.63%)
S&P 500 1,626.73, -9.63 (0.59%)
NYSE Composite 9,263.69, -67.69 (0.73%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,422,469,500
NYSE Volume 3,241,179,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2534-3951
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 161-53
WTI crude oil: 97.85, +1.16
Gold: 1,388.10, +10.30
Silver: 21.96, +0.377

Only Banksters Like Rigged Markets

Japan's Nikkei was down more than six percent on Thursday, the US$/YEN carry trade busted as that fell below 94. Stocks in Europe were down hard. By all indications, US stocks should have taken another serious leg lower, but instead, we got an algo-driven, out-of-the-blue hockey stick magic rally that erased the declines of the past two days on marginal volume.

This is why individual investors don't trade in or trust the stock markets. They are rigged - and broken - beyond anyone's wildest imagination.

Dow 15,176.08, +180.85 (1.21%)
NASDAQ 3,445.37, +44.94 (1.32%)
S&P 500 1,636.36, +23.84 (1.48%)
NYSE Composite 9,331.37, +141.93 (1.54%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,548,629,625
NYSE Volume 3,840,153,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 5176-1318
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 155-395
WTI crude oil: 96.69, +0.81
Gold: 1,377.80, -14.20
Silver: 21.58, -0.213

Stocks Erase Early Gains; Dow Down Three Straight for First Time in 2013

Equities took another shot to the ribs on Tuesday as bears took control of the trading.

After an initial gain of 119 points on the Dow, sentiment turned radically negative for really no apparent reason, as selling into strength became the preferred strategy after months of buying dips.

The Dow posted its first three-day losing streak of 2013, with the other major averages following suit. Today's closing numbers put the S&P and the Dow dangerously close to their 50-day moving averages: 1610 for the S&P; 14970 on the Dow, and, any troubling signs from Thursday's initial unemployment claims could shoot the averages right through support and into a proverbial no-man's land.

Trading volume was rather tepid, but losers outnumbered gainers again, by a roughly 3:1 margin. The major indices now have entered an area that is decisively below the midpoint between recent highs and lows, trending lower, as has been the mantra for most of the month of June.

The dark lining inside the silver cloud came in the form of WTI crude oil prices, which hit a three-week high.

Bias remains bearish short-term, as new lows outpaced new highs for the second straight session and are deteriorating.

Where this goes from here is anyone's guess, though most are placing their wagers toward continued weakness in stocks as interest rates bumped up slightly again today, the 10-year closing at 2.23%, but that's what makes gambling investing so interesting.

Dow 14,995.23, -126.79 (0.84%)
NASDAQ 3,400.43, -36.52 (1.06%)
S&P 500 1,612.52, -13.61 (0.84%)
NYSE Composite 9,189.42, -66.06 (0.71%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,501,521,500
NYSE Volume 3,677,878,750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 1675-4828
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 129-428
WTI crude oil: 95.88, +0.50
Gold: 1,392.00, +15.00
Silver: 21.80, +0.15

Stocks Decline Globally as QE and ZIRP Show There are Limits

With losers outpacing gainers by a 4:1 margin, stocks got trashed today around the globe, starting in Japan - which triggered the entire equity rout - and ending here in the USA where the Dow lost 108 points, and, despite that stiff selloff, was still easily the best performer of the major indices on a percentage basis.

The NASDAQ and NYSE Composite took the day's losses the worst, off 1.06% and 1.10% respectively. The S&P dropped by just more than one percent.

The worldwide selling spree was set off when the Japanese leadership declined to extend their bond and market easing measures past what was already in place. Speculators expected the BoJ to increase bond and ETF purchases, but came away disappointed.

That sent the Nikkei and Topix tumbling to the downside, and greeted European investors with markedly negative prospects as their trading day began.

In the US, futures were heavily to the downside, resulting in the indices hitting their lowest points just minutes into trading. Remarkably, stocks came nearly all the way back - with the Dow going positive for a few moments before noon, but the low-volume rally fooled nobody and sellers came back in force to take stocks back down for the rest of the session.

Adding to the already nervous environment, the 10-year note bounced up as high as 2.28%, but ended the day at a relatively benign 2.18%, though fear of higher rates and a tapering of the Fed's bond buying program remained a key market driver in both stocks and bonds.

A fortnight of protests in Turkey finally exploded into a somewhat violent repression by government forces, who used water cannons and tear gas to disperse about 10,000 protesters. Also, late in the day, news broke that the ACLU had filed suit against the US government over the NSA's recently-exposed monitoring of nearly all domestic communications, calling the activity unconstitutional.

This is truly a dangerous environment, both for investors and ordinary citizens. Stocks are hovering in a range just below all-time highs and recent lows, while Washington is awash in scandals ranging from covering up the assassination of a diplomat and others in Libya (Benghazi), to wiretapping reporters to having the IRS harass political opposition. In another time, there would be protests all over the Washington Mall and cries for impeachment of president Obama would be drowning out reasonable discourse. But, Americans have grown so used to government malfeasance and the country has become so dependent on government entitlements that nobody seems capable of raising their voice to an administration and a congress that has trampled the constitution ever since 9/11/2001.

What will it take to shake things up and clean the garbage out of our corrupt-to-the-core political and financial system? A severe market crash? A politician with will and integrity? A hot war in Syria? Something else?

Stay tuned for what should develop into a very contentious, heated summer of pandemonium in markets and politics. The events of the past two to three weeks have been just the warm-up act. The main attraction begins when the cronies turn on each other.

Dow 15,122.02, -116.57 (0.76%)
NASDAQ 3,436.95, -36.82 (1.06%)
S&P 500 1,626.13, -16.68 (1.02%)
NYSE Composite 9,255.44, -102.56 (1.10%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,477,085,500
NYSE Volume 3,854,662,750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 1286-5251
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 131-308
WTI crude oil: 95.38, -0.39
Gold: 1,377.00, -9.00
Silver: 21.65, -0.279