Nasty Turnaround In The Market

The FOMC minutes were just released, and although the markets were already trading off their early morning highs, the release seems to have sparked a pickup in selling.

The comments seemed like more of the same to me. The Fed members said the downside risk to growth had increased. But inflation remained 'the prominent concern'. Recent indicators provided mixed signals about near-term economic strength. And that housing does not appear to have significantly spilled over into consumer spending.

So far, today is another example of why I don't trust strong opens. There was a lot of excitement around the open, and the flurry of buy orders propped up the market. But it didn't last long, and now the SPX and NDX have moved all the way back into negative territory.

If the markets finish like this, it will equate to a nasty, high-volume turnaround day in the market.