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Never Short a Dull Market, They Said


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Back when I was a kid trading from the customers seating area at the Walston and Co. office in downtown Philly, on a day like yesterday, the old heads there would say that. I'm not sure that still holds today.

But these were guys who had been through the 1929 crash, so they knew something about markets. On the other hand, I'm not sure they could have imagined abominations like CNBC. Or trading from a cell phone in your hand anywhere you were while chatting online with thousands of other people, instead of the 5 or 6 guys in the peanut gallery, getting up to tap out quotes on the Bunker Ramo machine up front. 

No, I'd finish my day selling hot dogs or coffee on the street corner and then go sit in the gallery with these guys. We'd watch the ticker tape go buy, one trade at a time - a hundred shares, 200, 500, sometimes a thousand. And then there were those gigantic block trades of 5,000 or 10,000 shares. Everyone would get excited and get up and go to the paper news ticker to see if there was some news. Same if the market started moving for no reason. "Was there some news?" would be the murmur.

But on days like yesterday, the saying for the day was "Never short a dull market." Other mantras were, "Don't fight the Fed." Or "Don't fight the tape. The trend is your friend." Or "Anything your broker tells you to do, do the opposite." Except for Stanley Goldring. If Stan said to buy something, it was good. Like Sea Containers. He recommended that, and it went up and up and up and up. Endlessly, for a couple of years, I think. 

Yeah, those were the days. I was young. They were old. "What did they know?" I thought. 

Everything, as it turns out. 

So we had a very dull day yesterday. Today, maybe we'll find out if what the old guys said back then still has any truth to it. 

-7n8g

For what it's worth, today is day two of a 54 day cycle up phase. If the market is going to resume its rally, today's the day. Otherwise, we start to look the other way. 

For moron the markets, see:

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26 minutes ago, PullMyFinger said:

Are all eyes and ears anxiously awaiting Lord Jaysus' obfuscating blah blah blah this afternoon so the anal cysts on Crapvision can misinterpret whatever he said and then waste loads of air time dissecting it? 

Dzackly. 

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1 minute ago, fxfox said:

The pro’s will shave the 0DTE option maniac‘s asses with rusty knives till they are bleeding. That‘s fer sure.

You are correct, the retail gamblers don't know who they are playing against.  In the long run, most will loss in that game.

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