all is quiet…

Alcoa was “better than expected” and Spanish bond yields are retreating.  Stock futures timidly higher.  Has anything changed?

A few things changed in the last week, especially yesterday:

1.  The reintroduction of fear means market participants will likely carry a few less positions this month and position sizes will probably chastened as well.

2.  Every chart is broken.  The bulls will go back to their weekly charts for reassurance about the trend now that the daily charts are too grotesque to behold without the aid of a mirror.  Someone somewhere will start muttering about some level being the next support but we all know how easily these so-called “key levels” are violated when the selling picks up, they are totally irrelevant.

3.  You’re going to hear from the gold bugs.  The precious metals trades all caught bids in the maelstrom yesterday.  The gold guys have not retired nor did they disappear, they just spent most of the first quarter in hibernation.