evening wrap, august 4

market vibes

My friends at the prison they ask unto me, “How good, how good does it feel to be free?” And I answer them most mysteriously, “ Are birds free from the chains of the skyway.” Dylan

Stocks did very little until the opening bell in New York today. And, there was very little news over the weekend to explain why stocks went down last week. In fact, as I noted this morning, earnings have been good. Was Amazon’s miss worth 1,000 NDX points? The rally today said not.

By my eye, algorithms intended to enforce a rally were launched from the get-go and continued through the session. In this form, the object is to sustain gains measured until the last 30 minutes. Late in the session, higher buy-side volumes are loaded to enforce a strong close.

S&Ps in hourly data today.

On tap this evening, a brief look at a shattered oil market, prodigal gold is home again, and a curious lack of character in bitcoin. Plus new contract lows in Sept natty in the vibe.