The most promising recent technical action for the bullish camp and which manifested itself once again in yesterday's action is, as intimated in the Daily Form column and also discussed during a slot on CNBC Europe yesterday afternoon, to be seen on the chart for the Nasdaq 100.

I shall not rehearse my analysis again from yesterday but the fact that the index was able to close above the 62% retracement level in the swing high/low in trading this year so far is definitely a positive. If the techs can prevail again today despite headwinds from an almost certainly bad employment report, then this sector could provide leadership higher.



I also discussed the chart for the S&P 500 yesterday, and looking again this morning at the hourly chart from yesterday I find the technical pattern to be constructive - but today will be a real test for the bulls.

It is worth pointing out that for the S&P 500 to match its out-performing rival, the Nasdaq 100, the broader index would need to make it through the 885 area which will be a formidable hurdle.

Are bankers worth millions?

Mr. Roger Jenkins, who is not a director of Barclays and therefore there is no public disclosure of his actual salary, is in charge of the Barclays Group’s corporate taxation strategy and it has been estimated that he is paid about £40 Million per annum ($60M). Why should he be so richly rewarded by the bank? Well this man is a real wizard and he has exploited loopholes in the complex taxation system administered in the UK and found in various offshore havens and complex taxation treaties, and in so doing has enabled Barclays to avoid paying its fair share of taxes to the UK government. There is no allegation that Mr. Jenkins has done anything illegal but has used maximum ingenuity to find permissible means of avoiding tax. However we do not know that there has not been some transgression of the law and that is why Barclays along with the other companies have been placed on the high risk list cited above. It may also be why Barclays is resisting so much any injections of public cash – and therefore public scrutiny.

This week a US politician asked rhetorically - Which planet are the bankers living on? This was in reference to the staggering amounts – about $20 billion paid out to bank executives in reference to the expression of their talents in a year which would have seen a systemic financial meltdown if not for the lavish generosity of politicians spending the money of taxpayers. For Mr. Jenkins at Barclays the answer to the question – would quite simply be, and with a suitable show of deference – “I am living on Planet Earth with its maze of ridiculously complex tax legislation and opportunities to shunt money through offshore havens and beyond the purview of any financial regulators, and have saved Barclays hundreds of millions of pounds each year by my efforts. Oh and by the way the bank has, quite rightly seen its way to reward me quite handsomely for my efforts.”



Clive Corcoran is the publisher of TradeWithForm.com, which provides daily analysis and commentary on the US stock market. He specializes in market neutral investing and and is currently working on a book about the benefits of trading with long/short strategies, which is scheduled for publication later this year.

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