Blog Archives
What Ever Happened to Mayberry?
November 22, 2010
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.
INSANITY
June 14, 2010
Good morning. Snap back week for the market last week, as the market looked at some stronger numbers out of Asia and the run on the Euro subsided somewhat, at least for the moment. The SPY’s finished the week up 2.86 (or 2.7%) to close at 109.68, virtually the same level it closed the Friday before Memorial Day. So we had a fairly violent move to the downside, down to 104.65 last Tuesday, before recovering to slightly higher for the two weeks last Friday. This morning the market looks to extend those gains.
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.
So, What Happened?
November 2, 2009
Good morning. Despite a solid advance of 2.1% last Thursday on first estimates of third quarter GDP, the week showed a fairly large decline in the SPY of 4.64, or 4%. The close Friday in the SPY of 103.56 represents a 6.1% decline from the 110.31 high set on 10/21. Last Friday was particularly troublesome in that the market more than gave away a solid advance on Thursday, an advance based on a strong economic number.
Traditionalists Ask “Why?”
October 12, 2009
Happy Columbus Day. Remember to feed the meters even though all public employees are enjoying a paid Holiday. More on that later. The market had a huge rebound week last week, and we are on the verge of totally forgetting that nasty, and ultimately forgettable to some, sell-off of the last two years. The SPY rallied from 102.49 to 107.26, a very large weekly move of 4.7%. The VIX was pummeled, starting the week at 28.68 and finishing 19% lower at 23.12. So we are to believe that not only is the market going straight up, and your investment in the market worth more, the insurance on the now higher value should be less. I thought the market was supposed to be rational?