I said earlier today that the market might finally finish up today. The Dow finished up 60 while the S&P 500 was flat. Bonds and commodities were mixed, gold was up 1%.
Yesterday and today we had some good signs. The volatility index (VIX) spiked up and volume was very high. Bullish sentiment is very low. All three are typically associated with the end of market corrections. The S&P 500 has fallen 12% from its 2011 peak and that is a pretty typical correction amount.
I’m not saying the bottom of this decline is in. I think we still could drop another 6-8%. But, some signs are looking better. The fall and attendant market volatility certainly merit my extra close attention.