Stocks sold off today for the same ‘technical’ reasons that they rallied yesterday. People feel the need to look for ‘reasons’ why the market do something on a given day.Sometimes there is a reason, some key piece of data or an exogenous event.Often enough the manner that stocks react does not seem to be customary to a particular piece of data.I don’t think I can stress enough that while markets tend to be more (relatively speaking) rational in the long run, in the short run they are a gamblers’ game, a game of liar’s poker.If you bear that in mind, and understand the games these jokers play, you might do a little better. And keep in mind that the big players who are buying ‘order flow’ know in the aggregate where the specs and mid-tier guys are leaning and to what extent. Its a game of timing and information.And the smaller players watch what the big guys are doing, in the pits and on the squawk boxes.You don’t have to believe it. But that’s how it is, and even more so today than it was when I started out when some manner of regulation prevailed. Now its more like the 1920s.Gold and silver rallied, as did the Dollar.Gold is coiling in a triangle within the larger triangle. At some point it is going to run. It was a little surprising that silver decoupled from tech stocks, but that speaks to the nature of today’s action.Bitcoin did follow its NDX correlation and gave up the 100K handle and then some.VIX popped up off its moving averages. See what I mean?As a reminder US markets will be closed on January 9 for the observance of Jimmy Carter’s funeral.And the Non-Farm Payroll report drops first thing on /Friday morning.Stack your decks carefully then on Wednesday afternoon.Have a pleasant evening. 
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