The latest data essentially was a correction for the past two monthly reports and job growth for the past three months averages 245,000 per month, still well above what the Fed considers desirable, says Steinberg, who expects the unemployment rate to dip below 4 per cent in the next few months. Nor was there any sign in the bond market on Friday of any diminished fears of Fed tightening. Treasury prices turned mixed after initial gains and yields barely budged. It's still engaged in an intensive hunt for the next new, new thing. It seemed a sure thing again, particularly with the prospect of market-roiling job numbers.
Some people say it's the biggest squeeze ever.
But the reverse side of this coin is that the disappearing shorts were the only natural buyers outside the technology sector, or at least the red-hot parts of it, so a lot of the market now is exposed to the prospect of greater volatility if there is disappointing news for specific stocks, for sectors or for the whole market. But don't count on it. Not that they would attract the typical punters, formerly known as investors, anyway. One, Conexant, dropped 35 per cent over the past five days after rising 120 per cent in the previous six weeks. The experts say that's because punters, formerly known as investors, panic madly at the first hint of bad news - not that Conexant had any.