When there is little volatility in markets then it is perceived boring, uninteresting and often the business news reverts to the irrelevant political follies.  But a pickup in volatility as we had when the market was pasted on September 9 and the ‘end of the world’ talk begins.  Truly bipolar sentiment is the order of the day.

Did you watch some of the biggest fund managers chatting it up recently on CNBC’s Delivering Alpha Conference?  The smartest minds in markets and trading were interviewed and espoused their opinion of markets.  Not a one of them cared for the markets at this time, and most were painting a dark picture of the future, post-election.

We heard similar opinions back in July before the market went on an enormous run – Soros is short futures, Icahn and Tepper are cautious, Bill Gross hates all markets, etc.  For the record, the stock market is HIGHER than when these geniuses bloviated their opinions.

Sentiment can quickly change when there is less certainty, and as it relates to Fed policy – the driver of liquidity and stock market moves – there is little visibility.  When this happens, we tend to gravitate to those who ‘know’, but this may be a tragic mistake.  These ‘experts’, who made their name investing in a very different world, can talk their book all they want, influencing the audience to see their point of view.

Is it right or wrong?  Truth or fallacy?  I don’t know, but I can tell you this much – the market will tell us the right answer about how to proceed, regardless of the overtones.  The market action is what I will listen to, not the managers trotted out by the media talking their book.