Blog Archives
On The Good Ship “Market”
April 13, 2009
Good morning. A furious rally of 246 points last Thursday made for a holiday shortened positive week in the market, with the SPY finishing up $1.65 or 1.8% for the week. The continued upside move in the market caused the VIX to drop 3.18 points to 36.52, a value the market has not seen since September 26, 2008. The VIX made an initial drop this year, after a relatively sharp year-end rally, to 36.88 on January 2, but has spent most of the year over 40. This morning we are seeing a modest retracement so far of last Thursday’s rally, but nohuge sell-off.
The Auto Industry
March 30, 2009
Good morning. Another solid week for the market last week, as the market, in the last four days, was able to sustain the levels reached on last Monday’s strong rally. Despite a down Friday, the S&P closed at $81.61, up 4.90 or 6.4% on the week.
Predictions
March 9, 2009
Good morning. Yet another horrible week for the market, as the SPY continued its seemingly relentless slide lower. The SPY finished the week at $68.92, down 6.8% for the week, bringing the yearly carnage to 23.7%. These numbers are despite a fairly substantial closing rally last Friday that had the SPY close 2.7% above its low print, and actually finish up slightly on the day.
Nationalizing
February 23, 2009
Good afternoon. There was continued market fallout in the last week’s holiday shortened week, with the SPY down an additional $5.44, or 6.6%. That brings the decline this year to 14.2%, and it is only the middle of February! The XLF, the financial sector of the S&P 500, was down 16% on the week to a total decline of 40.6% so far this year.
The Corporation: A Portrait of Dysfunction
February 9, 2009
Good morning. We actually started the month of February with a solid advance, with the SPY up $4.15 (or 5%) on the week. This still leaves the SPY down around 3.6% for the year, but still a real advance cutting the losses for the year roughly in half. The VIX was down from 44.84 to 43.36 (3%) for the week, moving in the expected direction for an up week, but still hanging historically very high.