Heading into Thursday’s market open on Wall Street we’ve got some good news and some bad news. Firstly, the bad news: U.S. equity futures are down across the board by roughly .5% in the 5:00 a.m. EST hour. Crude oil popped above $52 a barrel on Wednesday, but supply/output was higher than expected and the…
Is optimism creeping back into the market? Are investors signaling that it is “all clear”? Look, I get it, the market has rallied significantly off of the S&P (500) daily closing low of 2,351 and now looks to be stabilizing. Gaining stability, however, is a process that usually consisted of a low-level retest. Take a…
2018 could easily be characterized as the year that volatility came back into the market place due to Quantitative Tightening and geopolitical/macro concerns. Asset prices reached record levels in 2017 and through much of 2018, but as the Fed ratcheted higher its rate hikes (4 rate hikes in FY18) the market became increasingly fearful that…
Languishing over the 2018 market won’t do investors any good, but it is important to reflect on what made for a rather unique investing/trading atmosphere. 2018 could easily be characterized as the year that volatility came back into the market place due to Quantitative Tightening and geopolitical/macro concerns. Prior to 2018, the “buy the dip…...
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…
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…
