Money Game Think it was weird that we rallied despite the volcano and Goldman Sachs (GS) and all that jazz? It wasn’t. It was a Monday. And as The Pragmatic Capitalist has been pointing out, nothing has been more consistent than a Monday Melt-Up, as stocks have gained 26 of the last 33 Mondays. Steady as she goes.

By Vadim Pokhlebkin April 16, (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc was charged with fraud on Friday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the structuring and marketing of a debt product tied to subprime mortgages. Shocked? Most of the subscribers to Elliott Wave International’s...

CalculatedRisk An update on Greece: The IMF team was delayed arriving in Greece because of the ash from the Iceland volcano, meanwhile the Bundesbank president was quoted as saying Greece may need more aid. Also the German Finance Minister was quoted in Der Spiegel: “We cannot allow the bankruptcy of a euro member state like Greece to turn...

Courtesy of Tyler at Zero Hedge One stock, a company which is effectively bankrupt absent the government’s support and the FASB’s suspension of Rule 157, now accounts for 20% of total market volume. At last check, Citigroup had traded 1.6 billion shares, one fifth of total market volume. Why does anyone still fool themselves that the market...

Crude oil closed down $1.60 at $81.64 a barrel today. Prices closed near mid-range today and hit a fresh three week low. No serious chart damage has been inflicted in crude, but the bulls have faded and need to show fresh power soon to keep the uptrend on the daily bar chart in place. The Goldman Sachs fraud news and the volcanic ash that is shutting...

High Chart Patterns One of the first signs of a true change in sentiment is simply this: support fails to hold. Today was a fantastic day for buying support as can be seen by the following (we had a number of these in our newsletter last night). Don’t get excited on the dark side yet until this type of sentiment shifts and support becomes...

SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro sided with Democrats Luis Aguilar and Elisse Walter to approve the case, said the people, who declined to be identified because the vote wasn’t public. Republican commissioners Kathleen Casey and Troy Paredes voted against suing, the person said. Schapiro, an independent appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama,...

Courtesy of Robert Reich The best way for Senate Dems and the White House to respond to the Republican charge that the Dem plan for financial reform doesn’t go far enough to prevent another bailout is to call their bluff — and simultaneously do what’s necessary to avoid another bailout: Cap the size of big banks, as the UK is close to doing...

The Market Ticker One has to wonder… Goldman, of course, will say it still cares about reputation. Tell that to IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG. In 2006, the German bank specifically told Goldman it was no longer comfortable investing in CDOs that didn’t “utilize a collateral manager, meaning an independent third-party,” according to...

CalculatedRisk To follow up on the stories from last night, the Financial Times reported in January: SEC subpoenas big banks over CDOs The Securities and Exchange Commission sent subpoenas [in December 2009] to banks including Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Citigroup, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Morgan Stanley and Barclays...

Scott Redler of T3Live When Friday’s news hit, the prudent trader took risk off the table and put themselves in a position to see what happens next, rather than get caught up in the emotion of the moment. The question now is whether this news and Friday’ sell-off will be the catalyst for a bigger correction. Most indices experienced ...

Courtesy of JESSE’S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN Highlights: Yes. The only thing that was surprising how long the SEC took to do it. The complaint does not go quite far enough. It was a blatant fraud, more than just a failure to disclose information. And this may be the beginning of a lot of questions about a lot of investment banks. It has massive implications...

Zero Hedge A day before the GS news broke, we pointed out that the market is poised for a correction at least based on Fib. Sure enough, the ludicrous non-stop rally from the February lows topped at exactly a 61.8% extension of the previous sell-off (1211.6). Was the Goldman news predicated by the SEC’s religious following of Fibonacci signals?...

Joe Weisenthal of ClusterStock A lot of attention has been paid to the email where Goldman Sachs (GS) trader Fabrice Tourre talks about the roof caving in, and how only “Fabulous Fab” would survive the whole mess. That email certainly makes him look like a jerk. But that’s not the really bad email. That would be this one: Image:...

AC Investor PALM’s daily chart is very promising. The last trading day for PALM saw a large spike in volume after an analyst said the cell phone maker might be worth more then generally thought if it is bought out. Mike Abramsky at RBC Capital Markets wrote in research report Friday that a buyer might pay as much as $14 per share for Palm, if it really...