Exactly, this has been the biggest issue (arguably, so don't bother) overhanging the credit markets. And has also been keeping mortgage rates from trending lower.
It sure sucked yesterday for trendfollowers, but if you are a trendfollower then you ought to know specifics of a trending p/a, yesterday wasn't a 'typical' trend day. The less time it takes for a range to expand the less likely it is to stay within a trend ImE. Also do not forget about powers that be will do all within their power to keep market within support areas, so if you are to short and hold till cows come home you really need to watch for signs of reversal near key support zones.
Just to add, yesterday there were signs of a bounce, we never know what sort of bounce, yet there were technical indications that buyers were accumulating, if you understand how to read accumulation, then you would have at least closed part of your position. I wasn't short at that time so it was easier psychologically for me to go Long, I didn't know it would shoot up the way it did obviously, all I knew where my stop was and what sort of gain to expect based on research. Do not discount the power of intraday mean reversion in equity index futures.
Learn to read price action. You had a massive downtrend plotting pivots along the way. When a swing high positioned itself above the last resistant pivot, you got a trend reversal. News, who needs news. Price! Anek
yes, exactly. Those of you who think the main reason for this upturn where the news don't understand this market. Bears will come out and say that the banks spreaded this rumour because they needed the news to defend the support levels but the truth is they let the market down in the beginning only to suck in more shorts.
This is what I saw happening at the time, whether that would help you or not I don't know <img src=http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=1803627>
<i>"News, who needs news. Price!" * "yes, exactly. Those of you who think the main reason for this upturn where the news don't understand this market."</i> == Markets were at very key inflection points yesterday, which was obvious the way ES kept finding fierce defense at the 1330 - 1329 levels. After being in a sideways range for the past six sessions, something had to give. Charts only tell us what price action is likely to do, given the information it has to work with that is currently priced in. Breaking news blows away chart setups until such news can be priced in accordingly. === What might have been the result if news came out saying those bond insurers were filing Chapter 13? Where would the indexes have traded past 3:30pm est? What if a fed governor was speaking somewhere and said they were sure the rate cut cycle had come to an end for now? What if a hostile act erupted in a key country for oil production? What if a world leader was reported to have been killed? To say that news doesn't matter is, quite frankly, a stone stupid statement. The reaction to news matters greatly. Breaking news can propel a market either direction with equal aplomb. Dozens of afternoon charts from 2/27/2007 thru now attest to that. Anyone who has traded for awhile has likewise seen news blasts tank or ramp price action in the final hours of many sessions. They have also seen such news have an initial reaction then quick failure, or sideways volatility into the close. In other words, they've seen it all. When someone opts to trade past 3:30pm est on a potential reversal signal, they will inevitably experience three outcomes over the course of time: profitable result, buying spike highs or selling spike lows, chopped to pieces. Not much different than what can happen thru the course of a day, except the action is all compressed. The appeal of big moves in rapid fashion is immediate gratification. No holding trades for (seemingly) hours, no waiting anxiously for resolution. Wham - bam and the outcome is known. Profit or loss, at least it comes without the painful period of indecision. Trade long enough, and you will experience all of those scenarios many times over. Your decision to keep playing or keep the chips stacked in front of you for that given day is the gamble we all take.
News normally follows accumulation or distribution, just because we don't know, doesn't mean that others don't. If there are definite signs of A or D present then you have to assume that there is a group of people that are looking for a directional move to start or continue, going against them is like tackling 5 football players by yourself, size of balls is irrelevant
I think a lot of trading careers ended on that run. lets hope we gap up on monday and rally all day long. that will squeeze shorts even more.