Blog Archives

Escalating Fear

August 22, 2011

Good morning. It was yet another week of selling in the market, with the SPY finishing at its lowest level since Sep. 17, 2010 at 112.64, down 4% on the week. That number also represents a yearly decline of 10.4%, and at this point (based on Friday’s closing action) the market is not showing much sign of an impending bottom.

Year End Wrap-Up

December 31, 2009

Happy New Year! This last year was certainly a tester, as really was the whole last decade. We will finish the year in the SPY up almost 25% at around 113 or so, after a furious sell off in the first quarter took the SPY down to a low of 67.10 on March 6. The VIX looks like it will close under 20, after starting the year around 40, so as the market has steadily climbed since March the perceived fear in the market place has dropped by half.

Governmental Overload

March 3, 2009

Good morning. The weekly report on “last” week is starting to sound very familiar, with no good news for the market to be found. “Last” week the S&P was down another 4.5%, down from $77.42 to $73.93, bringing the yearly drop to an astounding 18%. Reasons abound, a good example being the government revision of fourth quarter GDP numbers from a minus 3.2% annual growth to minus 6%, way more than most had envisioned.