mtzianos wrote:
They'd could just intervene at key points of perceived support or resistance, and/or pump some money, create momentum, "send the message" and let rest of market participants carry on. Or maybe just buy the futures themselves. Especially when short-interest is at these high levels and squeezing the shorts will fuel the rise.
Exactly my point! Fifteen years ago the FED could control a market, not now. Selling at key resistance levels and buying a key support levels, they could control it. Now, they can only intervene, as you say, to send a message.
I am certain the FED started fighting the stock market in 1998 to no avail. They had lost control to the dot com and telecom buying frenzy: The New Age.
However, today all governements intervene in their markets to help stabilize them. They are part of the equation of mass psychology. Governments, speculators, investors and even swing traders add to the psychological 'collective' of the markets. This is how one interprets overall market trend: measuring the 'collective' investment sentiment.
Tony