Um, “worse than expected”? I guess that sums it up today as Consumer Confidence data was terrible.

Stock price declines today were milder than expected given the news. But, silly me, I forget that this is the quarter and mid-year end—there are bonuses to be had and bullish headlines to be written.

Why did the market rise this quarter? An overwhelming amount of liquidity plus an equal amount of BS. Shorts have been vanquished and, frankly, many don’t trust this market as the integrity of honest market making has been compromised through crony capitalism and double-dealing at the highest levels.

Volume again was light and breadth was negative.








In the meantime the longer-term picture, while stabilizing (I sound like a realtor), is still turning over.







































































































































What impressed me today was the absence of serious selling in major indexes, particularly XLY given the crummy Consumer Confidence data. This tells me bears are basically missing. Volume was rather light and no doubt everyone awaits Thursday’s big employment data before the long holiday weekend.

The tape painters did a good job protecting their positions and propping markets to earn respectable bonuses. It can be an unseemly business and it’s never been more so than currently.