spot on matt.....to a certain degree. too much emotion, too much focus on news and in the end, its the charts that really matter. in terms of ew bashing, i disagree. many ew posts talk about prechters latest count etc. well if his analysis.theory works, i say prove it. otherwise, ew bashing as you all it is actually value add as it puts us traders off following "bad" analysis

you can see its true about news being secondary.  For the past year, news that previously would have dropped the DOW a hundred points has had no impact whatsoever because the liquidity is just overwhelming everything else. There has been plenty of news.   It just hasn't mattered.

number 1, if you'd read what I wrote knobhead I said I have not one to blame but "myself"....number 2 that doesn't change the fact of what's going on....believe what you want....

I'm always impatient with and skeptical of people who claim that the market is being manipulated.  Like all conspiracy theories, claims of manipulation are an easy way out: they want to make simple (i.e., the market's direction is the result of what some nameless "big boys" are doing) what is incredibly complex and often infuriatingly difficult to understand and predict.  And those who cry manipulation are often seeking to get off the hook for their failings.  It's much easier to think that one's call should have right except that the cabal made the market behave strangely than to admit that one's theories are flawed or inadequate, or that one's application of those theories is flawed.  

In a way, it's very comfortable to think that the market is being manipulated.  All the messiness of the market is thus explained and rationalized.   It's much more difficult to admit that the market is a strange beast that is very hard to reduce to a set of indicators.

Of course, the market may be manipulated.  If so, it's being done by a bunch of utter incompetents if their actions are so transparent that, like Michael said, most people in the world agree.  But even if the manipulators are so secure that they can flaunt their manipulation, it is still our job as traders to adapt to the manipulation.

Again, I cringe when people claim manipulation, since I see that as an attempt to absolve oneself of responsibility.  And, even it is true that there is manipulation, it still doesn't let anyone off the hook.  Trading is trading and good traders adapt to any environment, even a manipulated one.