Insights
Monday, August 8, 2011 5:10 PM – Another Bad Day for Stocks
How bad was it? The S&P 500 index was -6.66%, the DJIA lost 634 points (5.55%) while the Nasdaq lost -6.9% and the small stock index -8.71%. Gold gained 3.7% to $1,710. When selling gets to this pace, the bottom almost always occurs within a few days. We are down to...
Monday, August 8, 2011 1:42 PM – Correction on Fear Indicator (VIX)
In my last post I gave credit to spikes above 40 in the VIX, popularly known as the fear indicator or volatility index for accurately predicting 3 of the last 5 market bottoms almost to the very day. That is accurate. On the other two occasions, 2001 and 2008 I said...
Monday, August 8, 2011 11:14 AM – Stocks Down – Bottom Near or is it 2008 Again?
The S&P 500 is off 3.5% this morning, about the same as Europe and Asia. Gold is up $57 today. Bonds are better so far. The big news is the downgrade of US Treasury bonds from AAA to AA+ with a negative credit watch, signaling that further downgrades might follow....
Friday, August 5, 4:11 PM
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...
Friday, August 5, 2011 10:17 AM – Market Bounce & Good Employment #s
The employment numbers were better than expected, the first economic news of late that has happily surprised. The unemployment rate dropped to 9.1%. I wouldn't get overly excited. These numbers jump around a good bit and the rate can drop on people giving up looking...
Thursday, August 4, 2011 – Hard Times in the Economy
Are the economic troubles in the US and Europe God's judgment for both turning their backs on God and kicking reference to anything godly out of the public square? I don't presume to speak for God. I don't know what to ascribe to his judgment and what is simply due to...
Thursday, August 4, 2011 4:47 PM – Selloff Steepens into Close
What a nasty day in the stock market! After bouncing off support the selling resumed and got much worse in the last hour. The S&P 500 index was -4.8% for the day. All indexes are now in negative territory for 2011. Even gold and silver were down today as were oil and...
Thursday, August 4, 2011 2:22 PM – Panic Selling Appearing
As I wrote this morning, the big thing driving the market down has been European selling to raise cash. Today, we started to see signs of panic selling as they are selling even the winners like gold. That is usually the last step in declining a market, though it can...
Thursday, August 4, 2011 10:25 AM – Why Stocks are Down
Stocks are roughly 1.5%-2% lower again today in the US and Europe. China was mixed, Japan up slightly and the rest of Asia down 1.2%. Interest rates are lower, gold is up 2% . . . stop me if you've heard this before. Q - Why are stocks continuing to drop? A - European...
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 4:35 PM – Market Rally & Outlook
The S&P 500 stock index finished 0.5% higher after dipping slightly below the 1240 level I said yesterday was key support. Nasdaq and small stocks were up more. Bonds had another good day. Gold and other commodities were down slightly. Fear has gotten fairly high....
Questions?
Follow us!