Volume-Slump, Gold-Dump And Short-Squeeze Double-Pump Lifts Dow To Intraday Record High

07-14-2014 • zerohedge.com

On the heels of Friday's late melt-up, futures opened quietly on Sunday before ramping dramatically higher as Europe opened (which also saw Gold monkey-hammered lower) and then one again as US opened (along with another gold smackdown). In both cases, USDJPY was the 'igniter' of momentum. After last week's best (worst) week for "most shorted" stocks, the US open saw them instantly ramped higher and then again another squeeze pump into the EU close. Notably, the Russell dropped over 0.5% from its opening print as it appears all the buying power occurred in that early short squeeze pump. Shortly after 3ET, AAPL started to fade and then VIX pushed higher (as "most shorted" stocks started accelerating lower). By the close the Dow had lost its record highs, Russell was down 2.65% for July, Gold (and silver) were whacked 2.4% (worst in 2014), oil closed up modestly, USD unch (JPY -0.25%), and Treasury yields only +2-3bps. S&P futures volume ended 30% below average.