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Daily Market Update – March 22, 2016 (Close) There wasn’t too much reason to suspect that there would be a lot going on this week. With an Easter Holiday shortened trading week and very little on the economic agenda, it looked as if it just might be another week of oil dictating where things were heading. Last week, though, gave some suggestion that maybe oil and stocks were thinking of going their own ways. As long as they continued following each other higher, I was all for their dalliance, but disconnecting as oil heads higher isn’t the best after such broad declines over such an extended period of time. This morning, however, as we should always be prepared whenever we think nothing is likely to happen, something happened. Natural terror is one thing, but this time it was another incidence of man made terror. As news was unfolding early this morning in Brussels of the carnage wreaked by terrorists, markets were fairly calm, as they tend to be when such terrible things occur. When you consider how irrational markets can be in the short term, it’s really amazing how calm and collected they can be in the face of real uncertainty. The kind that really matters. Even across the continent where the carnage is real and the fear must be with everyone other than those who would bring the harm, markets are underplaying the morning’s horrible events. Ultimately, that may be every bit as good of an antidote to terrorism as any proposed substantive erosion of privacy and rights. This morning there wasn’t too much question where most attention would be centered. With a single new position opened yesterday, I did have a trade out for another, as well and was hoping to still be able to make that trade today. No one was more surprised than me to see it actually happen. Otherwise, though, I expect it to be quiet on my end of things and don’t expect very much opportunity to find cover for uncovered positions. With one position to roll over this week and a low likelihood of making any additional new position trades, I’ll be glued to the news for the next 2 days and hopeful that justice may arrive in short order. As that great Harry Chapin song “Taxi” had said: “There was not much more for us to talk about…” That summed it up this morning and as the rest of the day unfolded, too. . . |
