Jon Markman of Traders Advantage wrote:<\/p>\n
Stocks went full Mario today, ripping higher after the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its first round of American-style quantitative easing at a level and pace — 60 billion euros a month — that was stronger than expected.<\/p>\n
George Soros got quoted in MarketWatch last night. The headline was “Hellish” markets make his less bullish<\/em>.”<\/p>\n Soros says since the crash of 2008, financial markets and international affairs have been closer and closer intertwined, making things hairy.<\/p>\n “This has greatly increased the level of uncertainty, volatility and unpredictability, both in financial markets and international affairs… So the increased interaction between the two is experienced as external shocks by both,” Soros said, speaking at a dinner in Davos yesterday. For example, together, financial sanctions and the collapse of oil prices have caused a financial crisis in Russia. But on their own, neither would trigger that. …<\/p>\n “This has made the job of hedge-fund managers hellishly difficult. Great opportunities mostly missed or experienced as shocks,” says Soros. Owen Li, your excuse-ship has come in.<\/p>\n Still, between his favorite topics of Russia and Ukraine, he also snuck in a market prediction: “The heightened uncertainty and volatility makes me less bullish than the markets because they militate against risk taking and reinforce the lack of investment demand,<\/strong>” Soros says.<\/p>\n MarketWatch continued:<\/p>\n ZeroHedge was also hopping on the “Apocalypse Now” theme: “When credibility in central-bank omnipotence snaps, buckle up. Risk will get re-priced, markets will fall apart, losses will mount, and politicians will seek someone (anyone, dear God, but them) to blame.”<\/p>\n Yes, lots of slow-clapping for the ECB this morning, with Lindsey Group’s Peter Boockvar joining in: “What investors witnessed yesterday was “the final climax in the more than 6 years of historic central-bank action, and thus asset prices are extremely vulnerable, particularly the riskiest kind – stocks – if the underlying economic and underlying fundamentals don’t support current multiples, which I believe they don’t.”<\/p>\n But for now, things look set to fall apart in currencies. And we’ve still got Greek elections to get through before U.S. investors can mind their own business again.<\/p>\n Oil is low. Here’s the chart. Roll your cursor over to get different time frames:<\/p>\n