Blog Archives

Grind Out Some Returns

March 1, 2010

Good morning. The market ended last week down ever so slightly, with the SPY down a whole .40 (or .4%) on the week. However, that weekly summary masks a series of almost violent ups and downs on both an inter and intra day basis. For example, we had a virtually flat Monday, then a surprisingly negative Consumer Confidence number on Tuesday sent us down almost 1.5%. Wednesday brought a snap back rally of almost the same magnitude, followed by bad jobs numbers on Thursday that had us down almost 2% before recovering to almost unchanged.

Monday Rant

August 17, 2009

Good morning. First down week in a while for the market, but only a little, with Friday’s late rally almost pulling the SPY even for the week. The SPY closed at 100.79, down from 101.20, or .4%. The VIX was actually down for the week, closing at 24.27, down from last week’s close of 24.76. The little damage that was done to the market was generally attributed to the surprise Consumer Confidence reading of 63.2 versus forecast of 69.

Where Is Our Adult Supervision?

June 15, 2009

Good morning. Last week the market continued to advance, but at a very reduced rate. The SPY finished the week at 95.08, up from 94.55 or .05%, and is now up 5.3% from the 2008 close of 90.29. Rising commodity prices, especially oil, and a series of economic numbers that are showing generally a decreasing rate of deterioration seem to be fueling the rally.

Blago and Bernie

December 15, 2008

Good morning. We actually had an inside week for the market last week, with the SPY down only about a point on the week. The VIX (volatility calculation for the S&P 500) was also down around four points on the week, still closing at a very historically elevated 54.28.