U.S. equity markets demonstrated another remarkable turnaround on Wednesday as investors returned from the New Year holiday. At its lows the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was negative by nearly 400 points, but rallied to finished in positive territory. Volatility, as gauged by the VIX, declined significantly as buyers stepped in to buy what was…
After the worst December since 1931 and the worst year since the financial crisis, stocks enter 2019 hobbled. The S&P 500 (SPX) will begin trading at 2,505 in 2019 after finishing down 6.2% in 2018, and down 9.6% in December alone. Some strategists and analysts are of the opinion that the disconnect between the economy and…
Good weekend to everyone and with the final trading day of calendar year 2018, we can’t help but desire the calendar year to end with some semblance of positivity. Last week kicked-off a holiday shortened trading with much anxiety being created for investors on Christmas Eve and as the market meltdown continued. The S&P 500…
I can recall watching the S&P 500 (SPX) on Thursday as it retraced much of what it had gained from the previous snap back rally. As the market worsened throughout the day, it became increasingly clear that sellers were having a difficult time maintaining pressure on the market. A quick look at the intraday SPX…
There’s nothing I dislike more than a 1,000+ (DOW)-point rally, coming after a nearly 5,000-point decline. Don’t get me wrong, it’s better than the continuation of the decline, but it only serves to validate the characterization of a bear market. In other words, that type of market move is indicative of a bear market. As…
Written by Doug Kass “Look up and not down; look out and not in; look forward and not back, and lend a hand.” – Edward Everett Hale Make no mistake about it, the stock market panic and Bear Market of November-December 2018 is serious and profoundly threatens the economic and profit pictures. As mentioned on Friday, a…
As investors return to the market from the Christmas Holiday, they are bracing for further market deterioration. Forced liquidations have plagued the market over the last several weeks, resulting in the worst Christmas Eve trading day ever. The S&P 500 index (SPX) fell by 2.7% Monday, marking the first session before Christmas that the broad-market benchmark has…
Thursday may have proved to be a signal to investors or at least traders that the selling pressure will continue to persist as global economic and political uncertainty also persists. The two have gone hand-and-hand since October. We can suggest the Fed’s “autopilot” commentary sparked the market correction, but other factors have been looming over…
At its apex yesterday, the Dow (DJIA) was up some 350+ points. All major averages were up greater than 1% going into the 2:00 p.m. EST FOMC rate hike announcement. By and large, market participants were expecting/anticipating a dovish Fed rate hike. By and large, that’s what they got. The problem then, as the major…
Since the FOMC’s September meeting and when it stated that it was “a long ways away from the neutral rate”, the market has been in a state of turmoil. The S&P 500 has fallen by some 12%+ since that time, taking out the February lows. Market volatility has remained elevated over this period of time.…
