Do you want straight talk about the events that are affecting the markets? Do you want to screen out the superfluous noise?

We thought so and we’ve got your back.

Every afternoon the markets are open, Trader Ed will provide a curated selection of the top stories that can affect your trading. No political slant. No agenda.  Just the pertinent market news with some much needed humor.  

The DJIA and the SPX go lower, the VIX jumps 7.5 %, and gold pops slightly. Pretty standard market opening for a Tuesday, right?  I bypassed the 9-5 job thing just to avoid this type of routine existence.

  • U.S. small business confidence declined further in February as lingering concerns about sales growth and profits hurt capital spending and hiring plans.

No doubt business investment confidence is waning. No one heard about the Eurozone and its flow of business investment money.

  • Investment in equipment and buildings was the key driver of growth in the euro zone in the final three months of 2015.

Wait! The Eurozone economy grew in the fourth quarter of 2015? Wait once more! Isn’t the Eurozone a big part of EU, the largest economy on the planet, even larger than the US economy? Wait again still! Mid-morning, the market seems to be pulling back from its oil and China reflexive opening. 

  • Traders in the short run have hijacked this market. You’re seeing moves in crude or in equity prices, other commodities that could be the move of a year happening in a day or two.

Richard Steinberg is correct. The fact is the market is about, and has been for some time, the instability of traders, hence its preoccupation with short-term news and its fear-based volatility.