My theory is that big and smart money knows that the new margin rules are going to pump this bitch to new highs or at least to the highs and that is why there has been no panic. The new rules take effect April 2nd and will roll out through out april. The short interest is very high and the big boys are going to make shorts, who loaded up on the recent down leg thinking it was the start of something big, hurt. As shorts start to cover (which is why i think we are going to new highs as they will all short more as we approach old highs and get stopped out after we break through to new highs ) the smart money will unload their positions to the covering shorts and the retail suckers. Then it will be watch out below. It is just a matter of time before the Iranians give back the UK sailors, they have too much to lose, they just want to be seen as having the power to get in the US and UK's face and then take the high magnanimous road of giving the sailors back. Cheap political stunt. Oil will drop and the market will rally big. Don't see it taking much longer than a week to happen, could even happen this weekend.
As they see the markets rise the money is going to come pouring back in. We may even get a couple of positive blips from housing as the early spring sellers get out at a discount before the herd. Most of the "for sale" signs in my neck of the woods are now either "sale pending" or "sold". I have also noticed that listings have about doubled from a week or two ago. There will probably be a flurry of sales from those who are desperate to get out with the rest (majority) holding on hoping. Mutual-fund investors bail out of stocks after market jolt By John Spence Mar 9, 2007 14:37:00 (ET) BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Mutual-fund investors shaken by the market's recent retreat have sold off their stock holdings and moved into the perceived safety of bonds and money markets, asset flows suggest. For the week ended March 7, stock funds saw net outflows of roughly $4.31 billion, according to AMG Data Services. Investors redeemed $2.8 billion from funds that concentrate on U.S. stocks, while portfolios that invest primarily in foreign companies saw $1.51 billion move out the door. The withdrawals "represent a natural tendency of some investors to protect recent gains, and will likely continue for a few more weeks," wrote Banc of America Securities strategist Thomas McManus in a research note Friday. Yet he added that new IRA contributions earmarked for stocks "may help offset further market-related redemptions over the next six weeks." According to the latest fund flows, investors appear to be moving into lower-risk bond and money-market funds. In the latest week, net inflows into high-grade corporate fund funds surged to $3.7 billion, according to McManus, compared to a weekly average of $2.1 billion over the trailing month. Meanwhile, about $28.6 billion flowed into all money-market mutual funds for the week ended March 6, taking total net assets to a fresh record-high $2.391 trillion, according to Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.