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.
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:
- Swing Trade Screen Picks – Here are Two on the Buy Side that Stick Out February 6, 2023
- Rally Looks Great But Don’t Chase It Now! Here’s Why February 6, 2023
- SOS – Goldtanic Hits Iceberg, Ship Sinking February 5, 2023
- Composite Liquidity Should Be Bearish, Here’s Why It’s Not Right Now January 26, 2023
- Long Live the Bear. The Bear is Dead January 17, 2023
- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Debt Ceiling January 16, 2023
- Withholding Taxes Fell Sharply in January February 3, 2023
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