By Jeff Clark, in the S&A Short Report's Direct Line:

I have many friends who trade for a living. Their livelihood and their families' well being depends on their ability to be right.

Several of us got together a few nights ago for a monthly poker game. The mood was as depressing as I've ever seen it. Every one of them was looking at the same indicators I follow and was heavily short the stock market. And, every one of them was feeling the pressure of being on the wrong side and losing money while the rest of the world profits.

These are guys that are used to being right. They're the best traders I know. And, every one of them thinks there's monkey business going on in the pits (where the S&P futures trade).

A little bit of money can go a long way in manipulating stock prices, if it's employed at the right time.

I'm not a big fan of conspiracy theories. And, if there's a conspiracy in the financial markets then my job is to know it and to play on the side of the conspirators.

But I've never known this group to be collectively wrong. We'll be on the wrong side for a little while as the market makes extreme moves (such as during the internet rally in 1999 and the great decline earlier this year).

Right now, every one of the best traders I know is massively short this market.

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