The stock market has amused and entertained us lately by going in the opposite direction from whatever we might have expected on the basis of the previous day’s close. Mightn’t the schizophrenic trader have an edge in such an environment? To get down to cases, yesterday the broad averages closed on an upthrust caused entirely by short-covering. Although that means stocks “should” go down this morning, presumably after an obligatory head-fake, the fact that the Dow outperformed the Nasdaq is a wrinkle that we haven’t had to consider recently. What is your prediction? UPDATE: This just in from one Carol Olson, who is not about to suffer one writer’s metaphor or hyperbole at the expense of schizophrenics. She writes as follows: “I beg to differ. Schizophrenia is a horrible, torturing illness of the brain, not an entertaining stock market, nor an indecisive trader. Please learn more about it. Try Dr Torrey at the Treatment Advocacy Center and/or N.A.M.I.” The strange thing is, one of the most gifted traders I have known was schizophrenic in exactly the way Carol has described. Crazy world.
