Four trading days before the Dow plunged more than 400 points, CNBC's "Fast Money" host Dylan Ratigan suggested a correction might be coming because "complacent" traders appeared to be more concerned about Britney Spears and Anna Nicole Smith than inflation, housing and Iran.
Ratigan cited Smith, Spears and Goldilocks (an economy that's seen as neither too hot nor too cold) as "three blondes" that could spell trouble for the bull market. It wasn't, however, just a pop culture indicator. Ratigan also cited three statistics to support his case that investors were becoming too confident, setting the stage for stocks to move lower:
-- S&P 500 up 8 consecutive months
-- Margin debt at a high
-- Dow's longest stretch without a 2% decline since 1953
Ratigan's Fast Money colleagues didn't buy his argument, with Jeff Macke accusing Ratigan of "whining."
In a CNBC.com web-only discussion Monday with Liz Claman, Ratigan had the last laugh. He says, however, that while his "observation" turned out to be on the money, he doesn't claim to be able to predict each and every future market move.