Blog Archives

State of Denial


Good morning. It was somewhat of a mixed week for the market last week, with the SPY down .7% to close at 128.37, the Dow Industrials up .7%, and the Russell down a significant 4.3%. It seemed like the news on Apple (Steve Jobs taking the medical leave, stock down 6.2% on the week) weighed more on the small cap stocks than on the more multi-national Dow stocks. Thrown into that mix was the State visit of the Chinese President and the resultant announcements of purchases of planes from Boeing and equipment from GE and others.

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Governmental Largess


Good morning, and Happy 2011 to all. Last week the market basically flat lined, with the SPY up .15 on the week, call it even. The VIX was actually up 7.8% on the week to close at 17.75, reflecting the idea that the post holiday weeks will probably be somewhat more volatile than the very slow markets we have seen in the last week. For the year the SPY was up 12.8%, 10.2% of which occurred in the last quarter. The relatively rapid market rise corresponds almost exactly with the Federal Reserves actions to increase the money supply growth beginning last August.

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Hog Heaven


Good morning. Even though the SPY had several minor up days last week, as the market continues its gradual but steady rally, it actually closed down 18 cents to finish at 124.30. This is due to the 60-cent dividend that came out on Friday morning.

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What Ever Happened to Mayberry?


Good morning. There was conflicting news in the market last week that had the market moving fairly violently on an intraday basis, only to close almost exactly unchanged. The SPY closed up a whole .09, at 120.29, after trading as low as 117.59 on Tuesday. The VIX closed down a solid 12% at 18.04, reflecting confidence that nothing bad will happen in the upcoming Thanksgiving week, or maybe for the rest of the year. Normally that would be the case, quiet trading before and after the holiday, but the recent few years have been anything but normal.

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Taking Off The Rose Tinted Glasses


Good morning. We had a very solid rally on Friday of over 1.5% in the SPY that was almost able to turn what had been a very negative week to the positive. As it was, the SPY finished “only” down .6% on the week and finished at 106.86. Friday’s close puts the SPY down 4.2% from the closing price of last year of 111.44. The VIX was actually down 4% on the week, closing at 24.45. What are the “reasons” for Friday’s rally?

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