"Rumors Keeps the Shorts on Edge"
By James J. Cramer
03/06/2003 11:52 AM EST
"Get this: "Osama bin Laden's in Iran and we have located him. Special ops go in this weekend."
Boom, I got that rumor at Dow 7730 and relayed it as quickly as I could to the site on Columnist Conversation.
Now let me say something else: The real weakness in this market, the real problem with the market, is the short base. The short base is so huge, so great, that on any piece of "good" terrorism news, the hedge funds just go nuts. They take QQQs. They grab Spoos. They pull their offerings. They buy calls.
What's wrong with that? Because this reiteration of the bin Laden capture rumor is probably my sixth one since the year began. Sure, it would be great to capture bin Laden. It would be even better not to capture him, because then the softheads in Europe would try to give the guy seven to 10 years with time off.
But the issue is the inability for the market to get where it has to go. We need a washout. We need the Dow Jones averages to take out some lows here and cause some fear. We need people to say "You know what? I ain't covering. I ain't pulling my offerings. I am selling the QQQ. Sold to you."
They just don't do that. Because the shorts are much more scared than the longs. Which is incredible given how horrid the market is. Where are the shorts with the churros?
Anyway, I reiterate: Sell the next rumor if you didn't sell this one.
And if they capture the evildoer, sell that too, because we are going to war and there will be a moment between now and then when we won't be feeling so great about capturing the worst mass murderer in history. "
(in
www.realmoney.com)
Enviado: 6/3/2003 19:12