CW8888: Who is the Grinch Stole Christmas? Trump The Grinch?
Trump resumed his attack on the Fed on Monday, tweeting that the central bank is "the only problem" with the U.S. economy.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held calls on Sunday with the heads of the six largest U.S. banks in order to reassure nervous investors.
The NYSE closes early on Monday at 1 p.m. ET. The exchange is closed on Tuesday for Christmas day.
U.S. stocks plunged on Monday in their worst day of Christmas Eve trading ever, as the S&P 500 entered a bear market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 653 points Monday in volatile trading, falling below 22,000. The Dow sank more than 2 percent, then recovered nearly all of the day's losses, before again falling more than 2 percent. The S&P 500 fell 2.7 percent, slipping into a bear market as it fell 20.06 percent from recent highs. Wall Street traditionally considers a drop of 20 percent or more from recent highs to be a bear market. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 2.2 percent.
Markets responded to turmoil in Washington. Multiple reports said President Donald Trump is discussing how to remove Jerome Powell from his position as chairman of the Federal Reserve. That discussion, as well as the recent market volatility, spurred Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to call the leaders of the six largest U.S. banks over the weekend. Additionally, Defense Secretary James
Mattis announced he would step down at the end of February, saying his views do not align with the president's.
Trump resumed his attack on the Fed on Monday, tweeting that the central bank is "the only problem" with the U.S. economy.
All 11 sectors of the S&P 500 are now negative for December, the fourth quarter and the full year.
Last week the Dow lost 1,655 points, or 6.8 percent. That was the Dow's worst week of trading since October 2008 during the financial crisis. The S&P 500 also lost 7 percent for the week. The Nasdaq Composite is now 22 percent below its record reached in August and is in a bear market.
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A “bear market” is when stocks see a 20 percent decline or more from a recent high — but they’re also marked by overall pessimism on Wall Street.
ReplyDeleteSince World War II, bear markets have lasted, on average, 13 months while stock markets tend to lose 30.4 percent of their value.
During those conditions it usually takes stocks an average 22 months to recover, according to analysis from Goldman Sachs and CNBC.
It's helpful to know what a "bear market" is because based on history, it looks like we could be here for a while.
The term on Wall Street is synonymous with serious, long-lasting declines in stock markets. In numeric terms, a bear market is a 20 percent or more drop from a recent peak.
The S&P 500 hit that milestone on Monday, dropping 20 percent from its 52-week high. Markets have stumbled through what is usually one of their best months of the year, with indexes on track for their worst December performances since the Great Depression in 1931.
Aside from a percentage drop, there other, more emotional ways to measure a bear market.
Pessimism tends to prevail. When good news isn't enough to hold off sellers and despite solid economic conditions, markets continue to tank — that's a bear market. The glass-half-full scenario is often overlooked and any positive news seems to be forgotten by the close of trading.
Dow rallies 1,000 points, logging its biggest single-day point gain ever
ReplyDeleteStocks posted their best day in nearly a decade on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average notching its largest one-day point gain in history. Rallies in retail and energy shares led the gains, as Wall Street recovered the steep losses suffered in the previous session.
The 30-stock Dow closed 1,086.25 points higher, or 4.98 percent, at 22,878.45. Wednesday's gain also marked the biggest upside move on a percentage basis since March 23, 2009, when it rose 5.8 percentage points.
The S&P 500 also catapulted 4.96 percent — its best day since March 2009 — to 2,467.70 as the consumer discretionary, energy and tech sectors all climbed more than 6 percent. The Nasdaq Composite also had its best day since March 23, 2009, surging 5.84 percent to 6,554.36.
Wednesday also marked the biggest post-Christmas rally for U.S. stocks ever.
Retailers were among the best performers on Wednesday, with the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) jumping 4.7 percent. Shares of Wayfair, Kohl's and Dollar General all rose more than 7 percent. Data released by Mastercard SpendingPulse showed retailers were having their best holiday season in six years. Amazon's stock also jumped 9.45 percent, snapping a four-day losing streak, after the company said it sold a record number of items this holiday season
Energy stocks also jumped as U.S. crude oil prices catapulted more than 8 percent. Shares of Marathon Oil and Hess were the best performers within the energy sector, jumping 11.9 percent and 11 percent, respectively.
A strong sell-off on Monday sent the major indexes down more than 2 percent and ended with the S&P 500 falling into a bear market. Monday's pullback was also the worst Christmas Eve decline ever. The S&P 500 was down 20.06 percent from an intraday record high set on Sept. 21 before Wednesday's sharp rebound. U.S. exchanges were closed Tuesday for the Christmas holiday.
The recent decline in stocks "is a buyer's strike due to lack of confidence in policymakers around the world," said Augustine. "It's going to take a long time to recover that confidence."
The plunge in stocks on Monday came after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held calls with CEOs of major U.S. banks last weekend and issued a statement saying, "The banks all confirmed ample liquidity is available for lending to consumer and business markets."
Monday's move lower also came after President Donald Trump commented on the Federal Reserve once more, calling it "the only problem our economy has" in a tweet. Trump also said Tuesday the Fed was "raising interest rates too fast because they think the economy is so good." Trump has been critical of the Fed's decisions regarding monetary policy this year. The central bank has hiked overnight rates four times this year.
"With the end of the quarter, we could get a bounce in the next few days," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities. But "the problem is [President Donald] Trump continues to create a lot of uncertainty. We can't focus on the fact there are a lot of good bargains out there."
This is all taking place amid an ongoing government shutdown that started last week. The Trump administration and congressional leaders are at a stalemate over funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The administration says the wall is important for national security while opponents of the barrier note it will not solve the U.S.' immigration issues.
"Government shutdown starts with no end game strategy by either side," L. Thomas Block, Washington policy strategist at Fundstrat Global Advisors, said in a note to clients. "The President ... remains convinced that fighting for HIS wall is worth a government shutdown and his base loves the confrontation."
ReplyDeleteCW8888: Due to Robot and AI trading??? Such a wild ride!
Dow closes more than 250 points higher in wild session, erases 600-point drop
Markets plunge after record-breaking rally — Here's what five experts say to expect next Markets plunge after record-breaking rally — Here's what five experts say to expect next
29 Mins Ago | 03:17
Stocks closed higher on Thursday, adding to the massive gains from the previous session, after a strong surge in the final hours of trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day up 260.37 points, or 1.1 percent, at 23,138.82. The S&P 500 closed 0.86 percent higher at 2,488.83 while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.4 percent to 6,579.49.
At its lows of the day, the Dow had fallen 611 points. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell as much as 2.8 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively.
The major averages started surging after 2 p.m. ET, around the time they all hit their lows of the day.
People are saying due to pensions, endowments and other institutional re-balancing before year-end. Wells Fargo mentioned about a US$64B "buy order" for stocks by certain institutions, LOL!
DeleteFor some super old traders/investors who started in Wall St in the early 1960s ... they say the volatility so far is normal!?!
The only time with greater up & down volatility (other than Oct 1987) was during the Great Depression in the 1930s ... and at that time no robo or AI trading LOL!
Hmm.. Indication of depression coming? Get ready on how to survive Depression 2.0
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