There was a very quick upward spike that occurred about 11:15 AM (Central). It was at least partially attributed to still another “Saddam is killed or captured” rumor. I swear, there are some people who are desperate to prop this market up.

But it gives me an opportunity to comment on the more and more likely probability that Saddam Hussein and/or bin Laden will meet their demise soon. If and when it happens the market may rally very sharply (I think it would rally much more on bin Laden news than Saddam news). But those kind of rallies beg to be sold. So be prepared. In fact, I think that the main thing that has kept this market from falling is that traders don’t want to be caught short when it happens. But the more that it’s discussed, the less impact it will have on the market when it finally happens.

Larry

"I swear, there are some people who are desperate to prop this market up."

specialists is the word. I wish I could find some names for the gold stocks I own. Are they so elusive as to find their names. Any help would be appreciated.

That's easy to find out, Bob. For example, Here's the specialist for Newmont. But I'm eager to know - what are you going to do with that information?

Larry

I want to study his actions if at all. Picked up a book by Richard Ney from the 70's called "making it in the market" and found some very interesting take on specialists and their actions in the market. The book is out of print but I loaned it from http://www.tradersbrain.com for a short stint to gather some insight. I'm not sure how to take Mr. Ney's volume analysis because it is completely opposite of mine to buy the low volume pullbacks which he considers bearish. Maybe he considers them at tops bearish. I would consider a retest of a high on lighter volume short term bearish. Its part of my hard knock education if I can visualized how a specialist takes the opposite side of the trades to make money shorting while creating demand with price so he can make money on the long side.

Oh, I see. In the old days, the specialist was a person, now they tend to be organizations. It used to be that the specialist position was handed down from generation to generation because it obviously is a very coveted thing to want to be. These days they can’t get away with as much as they used to be able to get away with back when stocks were traded in eighths and quarters. Decimalization has had an impact on that.

Larry

Well, at least I thank you for the specialist link. It always helps to know who it is that controls the stock. I heard the specialist in the gold stock AEM is a real crook in how he handles the stock. Have you ever had your stop picked off to the penny? - I have and there is no one else to blame but the specialist cleaning out the orders so he can take it back up. Richard Ney says if all those orders are piled up the specialist can see them - and that just gives him cause.