The Short Squeeze---Point, Counterpoint

The Question: On 7/5/12, The Evansville Observer wrote: > Bear Trader > Please review how the commodities spiked up prior to the 4th of July. Oil > spikes up 8 dollars in one day, coffee spikes from 1.65 to 1.80. > Question: This seems to defy the fundamentals. Was this just the program > guys trying to spook the shorts and force them to cover? What is your take > on it. > China is slowing....this should slow demand for oil...coffee is > aplenty....why why why The Answer: Date: Sunday, July 8, 2012, 2:53 AM I don't know, Observer. A short squeeze is as good an explanation as any. I think it was the HFT guys. Some sort of algorithmic interaction amongst the the machines, a bit like the Flash Crash, maybe. The machines can't dance together, they are just like assembly line robots, skilled humans must intervene when they start bumping each other. Maybe the algos were programed to anticipate a short squeeze last Tuesday. Robots are very damned dangerous to be around.