I have to admit that I was wrong about the CME closing negative every day last week; it actually closed positive on Friday. While this does affect the direction of the trend from what I originally thought (yes I know, obvious now, but...), it doesn't change my opinion that the futures market has influence over spot. Here's why...

These past 3 days, following Friday's close, just saw price rotate around the futures close price of $13800 (Bitstamp), in a range of +-$1500 (between $12500 and $15700), and last night (Futures Tuesday open) we started pushing higher FROM $13800 to continue Friday's move higher from the low of $11k. It's almost as if the past 3 days were meaningless, just waiting for futures to open again.

Also note how the price went from the all time high at $19666 exactly when the CME opened at 6PM on the 17th, to being driven down every single day throughout the week as futures were trading, until Friday.

Yes, I admit that I was wrong about today being a negative day, based on my false perception that Friday closed negative as well. However, I really do think the CME has an affect on the spot market. Whether or not it is a direct affect, or one that is behind the scenes is definitely open to debate. But the evidence is clear. IMO, I believe that we are finally seeing who controls these markets.

Anyway, I appreciate the feedback. Thank you.