Daily State of the Markets
Forget Oil, Is It All About Russia Now?
Worries abound in the stock market these days as traders fret about the price of oil, deflation, high yield bonds, the global banking system, the economies of Europe, China, and Japan, what the Fed will do next (and when), and Russia. It's that last one that seems to be attracting the mos…
Making Sense of the Oil/Stock Linkage
If your response to yesterday's trash job in the stock market was something along the lines of, "Wait, what?" you are likely not alone. Tuesday the stock market dove 220 points in the early going and then recovered almost all of it into the close. Thus, it looked like the dip buyers appea…
All Eyes Remain on Oil
The focal points in the market remain largely the same on this fine Wednesday morning. Oil continues to be the big topic of discussion with both the EIA and OPEC reducing their demand forecasts today. In addition, Iran says that oil could fall to $40 or below as price wars take hold among…
The Latest Worries About Oil And...
For a while on Monday morning, it began to feel like the Holidays had started early. While stocks had opened down on some new weak data in Europe, the indices recovered relatively quickly. No, make that almost instantaneously, as the opening down draft lasted a total of two minutes. And a…
What's Your Plan for 2015 and Beyond?
Having attended two industry conferences in as many months, it is safe to say that this remains one of the most hated bull markets in history. About the only good thing anyone has to say about the current joyride to the upside is that prices are at all-time highs. And once that admission …
China, ECB in the Spotlight
The big story overnight continues to be the joyride to the upside seen in the Chinese stock market. The Shanghai Composite gained 4.3% on Thursday, the index is now up over 8% on the week, and is up nearly 20% over the past month. There was no obvious catalyst for the outsized gains seen …
The Bears Are Making Their List and Checking it Twice...
Stocks rallied back on Tuesday as the S&P 500 erased the majority of Monday's decline. The venerable Dow Jones Industrial Average went one better and managed to close at a fresh new all-time high. However, the rest of the major indices did not follow suit, which suggests that there st…
Are The Oil Worries For Real?
You knew it was coming. After a record-breaking run, where the S&P 500 managed to close above its 5-day moving average for a jaw-dropping 29 consecutive days and gained +11.3% along the way, some worry has suddenly returned to the stock market.
In reality, it almost doesn't ma…
Oil: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Although the Dow Jones Industrial Average eeked out another new all-time high close on Friday and the NASDAQ 100 stepped lively into the Promised Land, the S&P 500, the Midcap 400 and the Russell 2000 all went the other direction, losing -0.25%, -0.80% and -1.49% respectively.
The Bulls Are Running, But It Is Now Time To...
The recent stock market rally has clearly been one for the record books. For those of you keeping score at home, the S&P 500 has now closed above its 5-day moving average for an eye-popping 29 consecutive days. And given that the old record was 22 straight closes above the 5-day, it i…