He Ain't Pretty No More

The market action of late reminds me of the LaMotta vs Janiro fight immortalized below in Raging Bull (1980)--A pretty, successful fighter with the world as his oyster, in Janiro, eventually runs into something more ferocious and violent than he could have ever imagined. 

Equities may still very well be in the middle of a long-term bull market. But as complacent longs are finding out today, we never have as much control over things inside the casino as we like to believe. The Dow has lost a jaw-dropping number of points today, as we have some serious dislocations taking place even since my last post about Amazon. 

First and foremost, cash is a position--Always has been, and always will be. The brazen traders who so enjoyed calling bottoms to any slight dips the last few year are likely learning what "normal" markets do, in terms of correction excesses ruthlessly. 

Beyond that, as we have been stressing for Members, index hedges serve as a valuable play when the market becomes almost too pretty to be true. 

It ain't pretty no more, that's for sure.