After breaking out of it's bullish symmetrical triangle a few days ago, oil shot to new yearly highs today as the hot money piled in and the shorts got plowed under. I'm guessing a run to $88 a barrel may be dead ahead.

This move finally took the steam out of equities as the day rolled on. Even oil related issues were hit, demonstrating just how much computers are really in charge. You'd think oil issues would trade much higher on a day like this. 

The last hour the bulls were beaten severely and volatility ($VIX) reversed 11% higher. That's a pretty big reversal. Action in the last hour is believed to driven by institutional money. If so, they were selling. All in all it was a pretty negative day for stocks.

My focus is still on the monthly close. I want to see how that middle bollinger band fairs. I have it at about 1055 tonight. As I've mentioned, a monthly close above that level would be bullish considering the last 15 years of market behavior. A close below and it's back to the drawing board. 

Something that's out there is the story on the Galleon Hedge Fund founder getting arrested and charged with insider trading. Today they announced the Fund would be liquidated and closed. That could have been driving the late day action.

What normally happens in these hedge fund fiasco's is that other hedge funds try and find a way to exploit the positions the troubled fund is trying to liquidate. I'm almost certain that had something to do with todays trading and possibly will impact things for a few more days.