The Day 10,000 Monkeys Came To The Office

  • January 12, 2001
  • Goran Yordanoff

At
least 10,000 monkeys have wreaked havoc in India’s capital city of
Delhi, by taking over offices in government buildings. The primates have stolen
food, threatened workers and shredded important documents. The aggressive
monkeys swing between ministry offices in the departments of finance, defense
and external affairs, and have also been seen in the prime minister’s office. 


Defense Ministry officer I.K. Jha said, “They are moving in very high
security areas.” Officials believe there is little that can be done to
solve the problem, and many employees come to work fearing attacks. Government
employee Surekha Rao said, “I am sometimes faced with groups of monkeys,
big huge-looking fellows.” 

— Reported today by Discovery.com News


How does one follow up a story like that? As the Nasdaq Composite failed
to hold the gains of its early rally up to the 2700 level and begun selling off
precipitously midday, I was grateful that at least my trading office was “primate
free.” As the plight of these unfortunate monkeys and government

workers consumed my thoughts for most of the day, I realized that you need to
appreciate the things that most of us take for granted.

As we saw in the Nasdaq Composite’s 60-minute chart I referenced on
Thursday, we were expecting to see some resistance come into play at the
upper regression line of the ever expanding volatility triangle, around the 2700
area. See below.

There is no telling whether the Nasdaq will make another attempt at breaking
through this upper regression line or retrace some of its nearly 400 point rise
from Monday’s lows. (This Monday’s lows)

At this point, I would be inclined to look at the short side for potential
trades next week as most of the “glamour index” (you know the drill:
(
JNPR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
BRCD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
MUSE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
VRTS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), etc.) are looking very toppy here.
However, trader/investor sentiment may have put in a major change of heart this
week as the market essentially ignored negative corporate news and rumors about
earnings and focused on growing optimism that the economy and earnings will
improve as the Fed cuts rates this year. More hardcore speculation. Now that the
“soft-landing” crowd has scurried into hiding, the “okay, but the
Fed will minimize the damages of a recession by being diligent in rate
cuts” crowd is out squawking. Should we believe them or wait and believe
our own eyes? Have these economic “gurus” ever been right?

With options expiration again rearing its ugly head next Friday, we are promised
to be in store for yet more volatility.

Play small and keep it close to the vest.

Long Watch: No setups.
Everything looks extended.

Short Watch:
(
JNPR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
BRCD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
SDLI |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
PMCS |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
AMCC |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
(
MUSE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), and
(
MSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).

See you next Tuesday. Have a great weekend and don’t forget to observe the
birthdays of one of America’s greats, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Goran