State of the Markets
Swiss Move Surprises Markets, But Focus Remains on Oil
The big news this morning in the early going comes not from the oil pits but rather the Swiss National Bank. In a surprise move, the SNB announced that they were cutting interest rates by 0.50% and abandoning the bank's cap of the Swiss franc relative to the euro. The now 3-year old cap o…
Trying to Make Sense of the Increase in Volatility
If one was out and about yesterday and unable to view the intraday action, the end result of the trading session may not have produced much of a reaction as the Dow fell 27 points, the S&P dropped 5, and the NASDAQ gave up just 3. However, anyone watching the day unfold knows that the…
Is It Time To Fire Your Manager/Fund/ETF/Strategy?
There is so much to keep track of these days. There is the crash in oil prices. The terror in Paris. The political drama in Greece. The unexpected decline in interest rates. Inflation expectations. The QE program in Europe. The Fed's next move. China's new stock market. The global economy…
Is QE to Blame For All The V-Bottoms?
There has been a lot of talk about the fact that the S&P 500 has displayed a remarkable tendency to produce a "V bottom" during the majority of the pullbacks seen over the last couple of years. Including yesterday's action, the blue chip index has put in a total of 10 such "V bottoms"…
Never Fear, The Next "V" May Be Here
The primary purpose of this daily missive is to identify the current drivers of the stock market action. The idea is that if we can understand why stocks are doing what they are doing in the near-term, we are unlikely to be fooled by a really big, really important move.
It is impo…
Is It Time to Worry About Growth in the U.S.?
In what is being dubbed as the worst start to a new year in ages, oil, Russia, and Greece are capturing most of the headlines. However, there may another factor lurking which could be causing some investors to fret. Namely, the state of the U.S. economy.
Coming into 2015, the cons…
Greece Again? Say It Ain't So!
So far at least, the New Year has been anything but happy for stock market investors. In short, traders have ignored the traditional seasonal pattern and have instead focused on the negative. So, the worries are back. Greece is back. And after yesterday, some fear appears to be back at th…
Hard To Believe, But Greece Still in Focus
Good morning. As we enter the first full trading week of 2015, the immediate focus remains on Greece, the ECB, and oil while traders will no doubt be keeping an eye open for this week's all-important jobs report scheduled for Friday.
In Europe, the upcoming Greek elections have ca…
Expectations for Stimulus May Aid Mood
Good morning. After a disappointing end to an otherwise strong year for the stock market in 2014, the mood appears to be improved on this first trading day of 2015. There are several stories capturing traders' attention on the topics of QE in the Europe, Eurozone PMI, and China's PMI data…