by Rick Ackerman
RickAckerman.com
Amazon has taken flight, up $230 at the moment, or about 9%, after earnings announced moments after the close beat analysts’ expectations. The stock looks bound for 2342.79. You have to wonder who the geniuses are who get paid to do the expecting, since their estimates so often fall a few crucial pennies shy of whatever numbers are released. Do these Wall Street shills perhaps receive bonuses for lowballing their dartboard predictions? This would make sense, since estimates that can be easily beaten have potentially lucrative implications for insiders.
Short-Covering Fools
If analysts are merely dumb, even dumber are traders who bet against after-hours eruptions that have become a staple of the bull market. Ironically, short-covering fools are the only source of buying power strong enough to goose stocks past heavy layers of supply and prior peaks.