This month marks the first time since July 1 that the first trading day of the month wasn’t an up day. That’s 8 months in a row of money pouring in on the first trading day. Furthermore, recall that July 1 marked a low for the SPY at 101.13 that ended a 2-month correction to the 13-month rally off the March 2009 V-bottom, and launched a new 8-month rally. Is the fun over now?

The market reeked of late-day manipulation today as a last-minute push managed to get the Dow back into positive territory, but the S&P500 and Nasdaq couldn’t quite make it. The bulls have staked out their claim and won’t allow anyone to spoil their party...and they have powerful friends.