Surprises and shocks contributed to afternoon shuffles on Monday. That’s at the same time pundits generally dismiss sell-offs by virtue of recovery in the final hour, which left most markets little changed for the session, writes Gene Inger Monday night.

And, of course some of the late recovery was related to Alphabet (GOOGL); and it was in fact well after the close that stories (true or not, or intended to prop prices of oil or not) circulated that the Houthis are holding a number of tankers in port as a form of hostage.

Bloomberg: Stocks slide Tuesday as Caterpillar spooks, Google tumbles midday.

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This is not confirmed other than Saudi media; but if things move this way insurance companies will possibly impede oil transport. This would affect Brent more than WTI Crude and see some price rise. Keep in mind, this is the game stage for Oil. We’ve been bullish on Oil for months, while others generally have become optimistic only now after it went way up.  

Big Oil gets little love with toxic troika shadowing revival.


We already had market stammering as outlined, and as the Bank of Japan’s Kuroda had reminded everyone of both monetary tightening and the importance of debt sustainability. 

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So yes, there’s a variety of issues, including late intraday squaring and of course the conventional expectations of stocks rallying on companies that release so-called blowout earnings this week. 

Alphabet beat estimates and popped by over 20 initially, then collapsed to plus 3 last I saw. Like others, it turns into buy the rumor/sell the news eventually. In the very momentary response it helped the S&P 500 (SPX) rise in those minutes the futures continued to trade after the bell falling back in extended trading. 

Alphabet's open wallet is winning few friends on Wall Street Tuesday.

chart 3

Bottom line: Basically, you have a market struggling to mount an effective intraweek rally. No change in the shaky prospects unfolding.   

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