I have two stocks I'm watching to buy deep in the money Puts on when they run up a little, AMZN and CTX, two bloated pigs if you ask me. Anyway, I have their raw data side by side and I'd just see surges of red or green on them simultaneously....for the last few days actually. Two very different stocks in very different sectors and I'd see surge moves in both. And if you don't think this is a time of madness, look at this sub-headline from a Marketwatch story: Dow surges as data points to U.S. economic slowdown A correction is imminent from that alone...I know it sounds stupid, but seriously, that headline pretty much sums up how fucked up this market is and how absurd it is.
Bull market seasonal: BULL Friday, Bear Monday Bear market seasonal: reverse the above. Realistically, we "needed" to close up today for psychological reasons. Once you've seen this sh#$ done year over year, you come to recognize all the tricks. Not to mention hedge funds send quarterly statements, hence the huge run ending-april. IMHO, even if earnings were not stellar we'd still be sitting around DOW ~ 12,700 after that drastic sell off.