Looking for certainty in the direction of financial and commodities markets? Now is probably not the time. That was the overriding theme from today’s webinar on the third quarter market outlook by Darin Newsom, senior analyst at Telvent DTN. “‘Flux’ is the best word to describe these markets,” Newsom said. “These markets can change on a moment’s notice.” For the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Newsom said the long-term trend remains down while the short-term trend is uncertain. “I’m basically flat this market. It’s difficult to read and I’m getting mixed signals.” (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Dow Jones Industrial Average’
Gold, stocks, oil: Markets in flux
Thursday, July 8th, 2010What Happened?
Friday, May 7th, 2010Thursday May 6 was an odd day in the markets but perhaps not as odd as some may suspect. We pointed out a week earlier how the Dow Jones was pushing some pretty significant resistance, the 61.8% retracement level of the move from the 2007 high to the March 2009 low. The Dow touched that level and failed at the end of April (see chart below).
Add to that an odd consensus between bears and bulls of a significant downturn. Many bears were thinking we were at a historic high and ready for a reversal as the economy is poised for a double dip recession. Many bulls, realizing the market cannot go up forever and seeing that the S&P 500 rallied more than 80% from the March 2009 lows, were expecting a correction, a significant correction of as much as 10%. (more…)
A recovery by any other name
Friday, October 30th, 2009Do you feel the recovery? The markets did on Thursday as word that the economy grew by 3.5% in the third quarter led to a 200-point rally in the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index.
However those gains were lost and then some on Friday as the Dow dropped 225 points. And it could have been more than simple buy the rumor sell the fact activity.
Irrational exuberance on steroids
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009When the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit 10,000 for the first time in March 1999, I was standing on the financial floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. A large roar of approval rose from the traders as the Dow hit that historic and unprecedented benchmark.
Bargain basement
Thursday, March 5th, 2009Attention K-mart shoppers…pop quiz. Today 99 cents could buy you a) something tacky from the dollar store or b) one share of Citigroup? If you answered c) all of the above, you’re right! Citi actually closed out at $1.02, so add a few more cents and a share of the troubled investment bank could be yours tomorrow.
The market in general also tanked again today, with U.S. stock indexes finishing down 4%. Earlier this week the Dow hit its lowest level since 1997. With market performances like that, it could be time for everyone to start hitting the dollar store. Or the bottle.
Bailout verdict? Not good
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009The verdict for the new bailout plan is in, and it stinks. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced the new $1.5 trillion financial rescue plan this morning, and the Dow Industrials promptly dropped 300 points. The Senate then approved the stimulus plan by a vote of 61 to 37. The massive market sell-off continued throughout the day, with stock indexes dropping 4-5% after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke discussed economic rescue plans with the House of Representatives, according to Market Watch. Headed into the close, the Dow was hovering around 7,800. Ouch.
Grounded for Groundhog Day
Monday, February 2nd, 2009World’s most famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today, forecasting six more weeks of winter. As we said on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is in a deep freeze of its own. It traded in negative territory for 93 percent of the day on Friday, according to Dow Jones.The Dow also logged its worst January performance in its 113-year history in 2008 and in January had its biggest monthly point and percentage drop since October 2008.
Ouch – Dow drops 500+ points in a single day
Monday, September 15th, 2008Spurred by the Lehman Brothers Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch’s acquisition by Bank of America and AIG’s (American International Group Inc.) 60.79% decline, the Dow Jones Industrial Average today closed down 504.42 points, dropping to 10,917.51 from 11,416.37.
The S&P 500 dropped 59.01 points, closing at 1,192.69. That’s the biggest single day drop since Sept. 11, 2001.
According to Lehman, none of the company’s broker-dealer subsidiaries or other subsidiaries of LBHI was included in the Chapter 11 filing and all of the U.S. registered broker-dealers will continue to operate. Neuberger Berman, LLC will continue to conduct business as usual.
Lehman’s bankruptcy will reportedly result in the loss of 25,000 jobs, and the liquidation of the company, as negotiations with foreign wealth funds failed when the Federal guarantees failed to materialize. Such guarantees were made for Bear Stearns, when JP Morgan acquired it in March.
In the shadow of events, the Federal Reserve Bank has created the new Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF), which could provide support and liquidity to the stressed markets. The Federal Open Market Committee announcement is scheduled for Tuesday, as is the Treasury International Capital (TICS) data, which will announce the amount of foreign capital entering or exiting U.S. markets.
Tuesday should be another intersting day.
It’s the dollar, stupid
Monday, June 9th, 2008Cause and effect is always a tricky concept and that is most true when it comes to markets. With only two directions to go any explanation can seem valid. So when the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped nearly 400 points on Friday there where many explanations out there.
The sharp increase in the unemployment rate, to 5.5% from 5% — when most expectations called for a minor increase to 5.1% — was obviously what got the bears rolling and the consensus is that the sharp increase in crude oil is what kept up the selling pressure.
I would suggest that Comments from European Central Bank (ECB) President Jean-Claude Trichet, suggesting that the ECB could soon raise interest rates to address rising inflation is what triggered dollar weakness and consequently the oil rally but it has already been determined that evil speculators are the only cause of higher oil prices. Isn’t it nice for “big Oil” and Opec that there is a new scapegoat on the block to point at.
