Market volatility looks to have become the norm of late, with intraday swings of 500 points on the Dow Jones Industrials seemingly commonplace. The days of complacency and ever rising stock prices appear to be firmly in the rear-view mirror, now replaced by daily angst. And, with good reason. Markets have fully recognized that “synchronized” world economic growth has ended, that the U.S. economy is not an island, immune from …Read More
Main Street Boom Frightens Wall Street
On Friday, November 2nd, the Dow Jones Industrials ended down 110 points in a wild day in which the index swung over 500 points from its intraday high to its intraday low. This occurred despite one of the most stellar employment reports in recent memory, a report that raised hopes that the economy would continue to grow in the 3% range, and a report that put smiles on the faces …Read More
Heightened Volatility! Blame the Fed
Volatility returned to financial markets with a vengeance in October. In the 12 market sessions between October 4th and October 19th, eight were negative (a total of -2,324 Dow Points) while four were positive (+940). In those 12 sessions, seven were triple digit; unfortunately, five of those triples were negative. Why the sudden turn and burst of volatility? Wall Street is abuzz with worries about decelerating economic growth (a theme …Read More
Spiking Rates: The Fed Doesn’t See Economy’s Deceleration
After trading in a narrow range (2.80%-3.10%) for much of Q2 and Q3, interest rates broke wildly to the upside as Q4 began. The real wonder was not the rise in rates, but why they stayed so benign for so long, especially in the face of record low unemployment and what seems to be a stock market that won’t quit. Rising rates now pose a problem for financial markets as …Read More
Markets: Time to Reflect on Risk, not Return
The week ended September 7th saw a pull-back from the record highs set in late August. Perhaps we witnessed the infamous “double top” (January 26th and August 29th). It is clear that financial markets have become riskier, and, perhaps, it is time for investors to assess the risks inherent in their portfolios versus the prospects of future returns. There is a short-term and a long-term view, neither of which augurs …Read More
New Market Highs: It’s Not the Economy (Stupid)!
It had been 210 days since the S&P 500 had made a new record high, but, on Friday, August 24th, after several days of struggle, the market finally broke to a new high (2874.69). The struggle actually began the prior Tuesday (August 21st). During that trading day, the S&P 500 actually pierced the old record high intra-day (during the trading session). But Wall Street has its own set of quirky …Read More
