Wow.

I was recently accepted into a masters program in Financial Engineering with Stevens Institute of Technology. I had a meeting with my faculty advisor this afternoon (incredibly smart Dr. German Creamer) followed by a terrific presentation from the managing director of quantatitive finance for S&P (brilliant Dr. William J. Morokoff). It was a very exciting visit and I had the opportunity to engage with some of brightest people in finance today. Looking forward to more of that.

Anyway, I left my desk at about 1:30PM after a quick check on the markets. The day showed typical volatillity and I was confident that we would see a down 20 day perhaps. I left with more shorts in play. On the way in to Hoboken I participated on a conference call with a client who informed me that the DOW had just dropped 9% in a matter of 20 minutes. Wow. I did not see that coming. Not in a single session. 200-400 points would not have been a surprise. 1000 is insane.

There are lots of rumors flying about computer glitches, financial terror, etc. Bottom line, the instability of the market should now be clear to all. Sadly, I did not have a chance to operate the desk during this extremely rare event. I am not sure I would have done the right things - but I do wish I had a chance.

And finally, wow!

Cheers!

Bollinger Bands...

The original post was too long a video for YouTube. Sorry! Anyway, big day today. Let's see what conviction the bulls have and if the Bears are ready to raid! Here is clip 1 dealing with Bollinger Bands.



Clip 2 on todays actiion (give the videos time to process on YouTube)

The Stochastic Indicator...

I noticed an entry on Tim Knight's SlopeofHope blog that the market is broke. I happen to agree. The post analyzes the weekly chart for the RUT and points out how the stochastic signal failed for the first time. I though this would be a good time to check out the stochs on the SPX.

It is about to crack...

Get ready for the a serious wave of selling.

Patience or Swift Trading?

I just know that this streak is going to break in my favor - it is a matter of time. If I were a swift enough trader, I would have exited and entered positions up and down this last 12 months. Reality is that I am not swift enough. So instead on days like today, I remain patient while everyone else panics. You can feel a top in the air. The final throws off this rally are underway. Look for big selling waves into the frothy bull mania. You can see it now if you watch the blocks carefully.



While I posted, 1172 was hit. Now we see if it holds:

Some Weakness...

This is not a day to celebrate - though it is nice to see a down day every so often. Anyway, I think we go lower tomorrow to test support at the bottom trend line. That is the test to see where we are headed. If we bounce off that line tomorrow and close higher. I will close my newest shorts. I did take my profits on my JCP and SWKS shorts today.

Short! Short! Short!

March madness has new meaning for me. It is absolutely amazng how over driven the market can get in either direction. I have stopped watching the market on a minute by minute basis. Primarily to preserve my sanity - but more importantly, to preserve my short positions. I did watch the market today and was so very impressed by the move up and I am now convinced that we are in for a very viscious fall. So much so that I have doubled my short position in anticipation of the move. Wow! I just can't see the market advancing much more. At best, we grind a bit higher only to shed 10% -15% in the near term. No need for deep technical analysis here.