I just arrived in Chicago where I’ll be for a week, taking care of some business and also attending some functions at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) which will be honoring the closing of the old trading pits.
Electronic trading has taken over. The old open outcry pits of 167 years of trading, will soon be gone, forever. I’ll miss them. For every advance in technology, something of the old gets lost forever.
Hearing the ticker tape, for instance. Or the screaming and jostling of bodies in the pits of the exchanges. Sensory information, to be sure, but important information on how to gauge a market. Like listening to a heartbeat, or feeling the pulse of the blood flowing through the arteries and veins of a body.
Electronic trading for all its advantages, also leaves behind some important parts of trading that will be lost, forever.
That said, on my trip here I was astounded at the attention our Federal Reserve is getting for its interest rate decision that will be announced Thursday afternoon. Every newspaper I saw, from Bangkok to Doha, Qatar, to when I arrived here in Chicago – had multiple front page articles on whether or not the Fed will raise rates.
I’ve already given you my analysis, in the last issue. And it remains the same: “… whatever the Fed decides won’t make one iota of difference when it comes to the major trends underway. Not even the short-term trends.
“For in the end, all central banks are powerless. All they can ever do is react. They can never, ever alter the trends that are set by free market forces.”
That said, it makes no sense right now …
A. To make any changes in the current portfolio. You are well positioned for both short-term moves and the more medium-term trends. Hold all positions with your stops in place.
B. To add new trades: I have several I’m getting ready to pull the trigger on. But I do NOT want to pull the trigger before Thursday’s Fed meeting results. That would be foolish.
So for now, sit tight, but be ready to act on a moment’s notice.
Best wishes,
Larry
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