Seen on the Street: 'Picking each other's pockets'
Thursday, Apr. 23 2009 @ 8:21AM
U.S. stocks had a "late-session swoon" yesterday "amid another round of dismal earnings reports and the possibility of a General Motors bankruptcy reared its head again." That's the Wall Street Journal's report, though Apple is expected to give the market another rollercoaster ride upward today. Wheeee!
But back to yesterday: The news that GM has basically given up ("Deadbeat GM just a beat away from dead") and is going to bankruptcy court, though not surprising, was enough to cause yet another paroxysm of gloom and another swig of Maalox. That's a different sort of queasiness than what's expected early today.
But all you really need to know about yesterday's market activity is summed up in one paragraph from David Fry on Seeking Alpha:
Volume still remains on the light side which means markets are dominated by Da Boyz who are just picking each other's pockets. You'll note that earnings reports from what are now loosely called banks have either been rigged (Goldman Sachs) or have been bolstered by proprietary trading activity. That's your tax dollars at work.
