The HFT activity, that which rallied the mkt from about unchanged, was significant this morning, clearly taking out all buy stops. They are selling it down a little at 10:41 as I write this. No HFT movement = little mkt movement = easier trading.
Here's a March 2007 on the activities of the Plunge Protection Team (PPT) being there if needed in a collapse:
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article464.html
I remember Art Cashin on the floor on CNBC was asked about this group and he was a Neurolinguistic Programmer's dream. Despite their being placed into existence under law, suddenly his eyes were darting all over except at the interviewer as he called it black helicopter stuff. Maybe he never read this short article.
For those who do not fully appreciate what these HFT machines are doing, this corrupt administration was shown a tool and rather than use it for good when needed to stabilize a decline, they use it now regularly to profit. I say that because there is often one, single, massive "ping" standing alone that moves the market. I don't see how a bank could do that and the others didn't act a split second later. So given that they work with the banks it would appear it is nothing short of timed collusion, or, under the National Security Act being interpreted by administration lawyers, the Fed itself buying stocks.
And now no one, especially since Corizine is walking free, trust the system. The Law of Unintended Consequences will be big on this next one. This 2007 article predicted bad things building then. Better now? I don't see how. It was stated on an interview in April by a financial talk show host on the John Batcherlor show, which is syndicated nightly on WABC, that these HFTs must be stopped before the marketplace is completed ruined for investors. That podcast the next day never had that interview on it. They filled his appearance with something else. It hardly seems like a coincidence that someone discussing that without HFTs now trading the exchanges and markets would implode, and thereby the economy, and it vanished just like former NYSE head Grasso stating "rip them out" in a Bloomberg interview was gone hours later. The money they make is so massive that they don't dare let John Q. Public know what's happening.