Change in Q1 volatility?

Hey fellas! Just wanted to get your thoughts on market volatility these days. Do you think we’ll see more short-term price jumps instead of longer-term trends this quarter? Seems like a very different market environment from what we’ve been used to in the past few years when trends usually last for weeks in Q1.

It’s just the banks trying to find new tricks for stealing blind the retail traders’ money.
But you see, there are tons of good traders out there nowadays and they are getting more, both in skills and population.

Ha! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Do you think this kind of volatile trading environment will keep up this month and the next though?

I don’t know that volatility is going to increase much in the near term, or remain the same, but at some point over the next 12 months volatility may increase because of economic swings. I mean like the new taxes in Japan, and the new costs and penalties related to Affordable Healthcare here, and of course ongoing concerns in Europe. Greece gets another bailout and unemployment in Spain still seems really high. I think the swings could become more short term.
Lately I have seen indicator divergences in several charts, but I don’t know if that means long term trend changes.
I hope the coming changes here and in Japan do not slow the economies too much. The Fed is unwinding some purchases, so that will give them the ability to reinstate them later if needed.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! It’s definitely a lot to take in at the moment, as the factors that move the markets seem to be shifting from the usual fundamentals and risk sentiment. Let’s see how it goes!