(2-7-13) It has been reported that "the Dow topped 14,000 for the first time since 2007, as investors applauded encouraging U.S. economic news." This is the way it's getting spun and that is the whole shill.

The rally that has occurred is basically a four-year rally, which is nothing more than a cyclical rally within a secular bear market. This has been a so-called "professional affair," meaning that it is a rally that has occurred without retail participation, i.e. Joe Six Pack buying.

In other words, the market has been manipulated to an extraordinary extent because it is essentially the "professional trade" which consists of the brokerage firms themselves, investment banks, insurance firms, pension firms, etc., just continuously bidding up the markets and re-circulating stock amongst themselves.

Why? Because the retail trade, which is concentrated in mutual funds and hedge funds, continues to show net redemption.

This means that the Joes have been using this rally to get out of stocks -- not getting into them.