The Standard and Poors index (SPX) encouraged us yesterday with a strong recovery, but it was just a head fake. SPX closed at 4538 today, down 39 points or 0.9%. The S&P 500 index lost two percent this week and has now lost nearly 4% since its opening at 4712 on November 22nd. Trading volume was above the 50 day moving average (dma) all week, which hasn’t happened very often this year. Over the past several months, SPX trading volume has tracked at or below the 50 dma. This increase in volume underscores this bearish move in the market.

VIX, the volatility index for the S&P 500 options, opened trading this morning at 27% and spiked up to 35% before settling down somewhat, closing at 30.5% today.

I track the Russell 2000 index with the IWM ETF. The owners of Russell have priced everyone out of the Russell 2000 index and option data. That is why I plot the IWM prices. IWM closed today at 214.71, down 4.05 or 2.1%. IWM opened the week at 226.22, so the week’s loss was over five percent!

The NASDAQ Composite index closed today at 15,085, down 296 points or 1.9%. NASDAQ opened the week at 15,719, setting up a loss of a little over four percent for the week. Trading volume was mixed this week, below average on Monday and Friday, but above the 50 dma for the middle of the week.

Last week’s strong decline on Friday of Thanksgiving week surprised me, but Monday’s positive opening seemed to suggest Friday’s sell off was excessive. Then the market sold off even further on Tuesday and Wednesday. Just like an abusive husband, the market turned nice on Thursday and assured us everything was OK. Today’s market was mixture of the extremes, with the S&P 500 opening higher and then plunging to an intraday low of 4495, before recovering 43 points to close at 4538. I may be desperately searching for a positive signal, but that late recovery today was indeed a hopeful sign. And that bounce was duplicated in NASDAQ and the Russell 2000.

But I cannot ignore that the S&P 500 index is now down 4% from its most recent high. Similarly, NASDAQ is down 6% and the Russell 200 is down 12%. This is becoming serious. Absent a sustained bounce next week, it may be time to close many of our trades.

In closing, I ask you to consider a simple question. What exactly needs to happen to allow the current restrictions on our freedoms to end? Covid 19 is no different than any other coronavirus. It will continue to mutate. The vaccine has not proven to be the savior we were promised, and the target is moving. When will it end?