- Details
- Written by Dr. Duke
- Category: Dr. Duke's Blog
- Hits: 2195
The markets were rallying reasonably strongly today, until Yellen spoke. SPX traded as high as $1882 before losing all of its gains to close unchanged at $1852. RUT was also unchanged at $963. Volatility contracted about three tenths of a point with VIX closing at 26.3%, but VIX was down to 24% before Yellen spooked traders with talk of negative interest rates.
Today's market action underscores why the Fed should have stayed out of this market. The painful adjustments would have been made and we would be long past the financial crisis. Instead we have traders anxiously perusing every word from anyone associated with the FOMC. More importantly, FOMC intervention has introduced great uncertainty because we have no historical basis to even guess the implications of the Fed's intervention. Free markets are comparatively easy to evaluate. External manipulations always have unintended consequences.
Trading volume in the S&P 500 stocks dropped back to the 50 dma today at 2.9 billion shares. Trading on the NYSE dropped 7% and trading on NASDAQ was flat.
SPX still appears to be holding support around $1850. RUT is behaving similarly at $960. So one could reasonably argue that we have seen the worst of the correction. But today's pull back demonstrates the fragility of this market. It could go either way. However, I don't see the economic drivers for a new recession. I think the doom and gloom crowd have been given the headlines too often. It sells papers, as they say.
Keep in mind that we have a three day weekend coming up. Global markets will be open Monday, so that always introduces the possibility of large moves in the U.S. markets Tuesday morning.
- Details
- Written by Dr. Duke
- Category: Dr. Duke's Blog
- Hits: 2207
The markets swung back and forth today, but ended up essentially unchanged on the day. SPX lost one dollar to close at $1852 after trading as low as $1835 and as high as $1868. RUT declined $5 to $964. Trading volume contracted somewhat with 3.3 billion shares of the S&P 500 stocks trading, but this remains well above the 50 dma at 2.8B shares. Trading declined 10% on the NYSE and also dropped by 10% on NASDAQ. The lock step between oil prices and stocks prices seems to be weakening. As oil prices declined farther this afternoon, SPX began its climb higher. And oil ended the day at $28, down about $1.35.
Today was a slow day for economic data; JOLTS job openings came in at 5.607 million for December, up from 5.346 million.
So we are left with the big question: are we testing support here or just pausing before we fall off the cliff? The price action hints at that scenario, but we can't be sure until we see some strong bullish days. Yesterday's bullish recovery was encouraging, but today didn't present the follow through one would like to see.
- Details
- Written by Dr. Duke
- Category: Dr. Duke's Blog
- Hits: 2325
The weak jobs report this morning seemed to trigger a strong sell-off in the markets, even though the jobs report wasn't that bad. Economists were predicting a weaker number at +190k, and it came in at +151k. The unemployment rate dropped to 4.9% and hourly wages improved, so that was encouraging. But look at the big picture of the jobs numbers:
Today's number was less than the last three reports, but in line with the two previous reports which were lower than the 200k+ reports last summer. Looking at the longer term picture leaves us concluding that the creation of jobs is roughly flat, so why the extreme market reaction this time? This is just one more data point for the general psychological state of the market - nervous, pessimistic, and obsessed with the Fed. I even read once again today of the Fed's plans to raise interest rates four times this year - have we not debunked that nonsense yet?
Another data point is the reaction to LNKD's earnings report. Market analysts appear to be consistently pleased with the results, but the market focused management guidance that they would be developing some projects with longer time frames that would ultimately make LNKD a stronger company. The result was a bloodbath. LNKD traded down $84 or 44% off of Thursday's close, and this bled over into the tech sector in general. Again, it seems the "sky is falling" crowd is in control.
SPX lost $35 to close at $1880 and RUT closed down $29 at $986. Trading volume was slightly lower for the S&P 500 at 3.4 billion shares. Trading volume declined 5% on the NYSE, but increased 14% on NASDAQ, reflecting the tech sector massacre.
Support roughly in the neighborhood of the August flash crash continues to hold for SPX; in fact, today's close was about $10 above the flash crash lows and about $20 above the lows set January 20th. RUT closed at support set at its recent low of January 20th. I can't see the future any more clearly than you, but the price action so far remains consistent with the choppy retesting of support after the lows of the correction. This period of back and forth trading lasted about a month after the August flash crash.
It's hard, but try to put this craziness behind you and enjoy your weekend. Reflect on what's really important.
- Details
- Written by Dr. Duke
- Category: Dr. Duke's Blog
- Hits: 2331
User Rating: 5 / 5
What can I say? Scary? Roller coaster? Volatile? Impossible to rationalize? I have run out of words to describe this market.
The markets dealt us another one of those days, plunging like there was no bottom, but then recovering much of the loss in the last hour of trading. One of the lessons I am learning is not to panic early; wait until late in the day to hedge positions. Of course, I still closed several stock positions this morning, but I waited to see if hedging my condor put spreads on SPX and RUT was necessary.
SPX lost $27 when the dust settled, closing at $1853. SPX hit a low earlier today at $1828, very close to the low hit intraday on January 20th. RUT traded similarly, closing at $956, down $16. Today's intraday low on RUT was $956, very close to the January 20th intraday low. The price action in the markets certainly looks like a retesting of correction lows, but the constant drumbeat of "end of days" commentary is disconcerting. The implied volatility on SPX, the VIX, rose to 26% today - hardly panic levels. Normally, I would interpret this volatility as suggesting that the large institutional players aren't that concerned. But that doesn't match any of the financial commentary.
Trading volume was mixed with increased volume of the S&P 500 stocks trading at 3.9 billion shares vs. the 50 dma at 2.8B. Trading on the NYSE was down 8%, but higher by 12% on NASDAQ.
What is a trader to do? In short, hide. I still have a few positions open, but I am mostly in cash. I thought we were seeing the bounce January 20th, and I ventured out and took a hit. I will be far more cautious about getting back in the market.
There wasn't any significant economic data out today. Oil prices were down modestly. It's unclear what drove the intense selling this morning. Speculation of an imminent recession here in the states was common as were the usual worries about China.
Take two aspirin and go to bed. I'm going to study my thesaurus. You millenials will have to Google that.
- Details
- Written by Dr. Duke
- Category: Dr. Duke's Blog
- Hits: 2121
Well, here we are again with one more extremely volatile day in the markets. SPX opened at $1907, traded down $35 and then reversed course and traded up by $41 to close at $1913, up $10 on the day. RUT traded similarly, closing at $1010, up one dollar. Volatility contracted a bit with the VIX closing down three tenths of a point at 21.7%. Trading volume popped up with 3.6 billion shares of the S&P 500 stocks trading today. Trading volume rose 16% on the NYSE and increased 13% on NASDAQ.
ADP reported an increase of 205 thousand private payroll jobs. This is an encouraging sign for Friday's jobs report. The ISM services index declined in January to 53.5 from last month's 55.8. But numbers over 50 denote expansion. Services are doing better than manufacturing, which is contracting.
January 20th was a significant day in the markets when the major indexes traded down to new lows, but then recovered significantly into the close. Those lows continue to hold today. RUT's intraday low today at $989 is very close to its intraday low on 1/20. SPX behaved similarly, hitting $1872 as the low today before recovering significantly. But SPX's intraday low on 1/20 was quite a bit lower at $1812. Was this the retest of the correction lows? Remember the trading following the August flash crash. We thrashed about for almost a month before resuming a bullish trend. However, the economic data may not justify a strong bullish trend this year. Perhaps the recovery from the correction is just for a sideways market, at least until the election.
The linkage of the stock market to oil prices appears to be weakening. Oil prices were up all day today, while the stock market traded down most of the day, recovering in late afternoon trading.
In the meantime, lay on the couch and get your feelings out. Tomorrow is another day on the roller coaster.
