Blog Archives
An Oligopoly Outbreak
April 27, 2009
Good morning. Two solid days for the market last Thursday and Friday almost brought the SPY into the positive for the week, but the rally fell short at 86.66, leaving the SPY down .74, or less than 1%, on the week. There was a fairly significant increase in the VIX, up from 33.93 to 36.81, possibly due to a combination of concerns involving financial stress tests and a possible worldwide flu outbreak.
Full Speed Ahead
April 20, 2009
Good morning. Yet another positive week for the market, making it five advancing weeks in a row! Is there anyone out there (except the talking heads on TV who seem able to revise their predictions on the fly) who would have thought that on those dark days of early March?
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.
Our “Brand” of Capitalism
April 6, 2009
Good morning. The market, despite a bad start on Monday, had another strong week as the S&P finished at $84.26, up $2.65 or 3%. Friday’s close represents an amazing 26% rally from the lows set on March 6, and for the buy and hold types it gets you back to roughly where you were on Feb. 10. We are still down about 7% on the year, but it sure feels like up compared to the first week of March. Is this a real rally?
Will it Take a Musket Some Day?
March 16, 2009
Good morning. A whole different tone in the market this morning from prior weeks, with the stock market staging a significant rally last week. Last week the S&P was up $7.17, from a close on March 6 of $68.92 to a close last week of $76.09, a gain of 10.4%.