markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced its worst quarter since the beginning of 2009. The S&P 500 Index fell 14 percent during the third quarter, with the materials sector as the worst performer, falling 25 percent. Many base metal commodities saw double digit declines, but not...

Wow! What a week! Friday ended the worst quarter for the stock market since 2010. After another choppy day, as expected, stocks sold off Friday, 10/28/11, at 3PM to close the day down 240 points o the Dow, 29 points on the S&P and an amazing 65 points on the NASDAQ. The close of 10903 on the...

Interesting tidbit on the CNBC site: Having analyzed 150 years of macroeconomic data, Goldman has found 20 examples of stagnation similar to those experienced by Japan in the 1990's, most of which occurred during the last 60 years in developed economies. “During these episodes, GDP per capita...

The stock market opened sharply higher today. This move took the Dow Jones Industrial Average up by more than 200 points. In the last two days, similar up moves have taken place but sharp selling has come in late in the day and driven the markets back down. Today, the markets are seeing sharp...

While there are always exceptions one of the better rules to follow is to never buy cyclical stocks that are ‘cheap' relative to earnings. A low PE multiple tends to reflect the markets' view that earnings are going to decline. The point here is that equities ‘lead' and if one can grasp this...

I think the talking heads on TV are generally not really picking up what the markets are laying down.  Even Jim Cramer has his wires crossed a bit on this one; and I usually find his macro analysis pretty cogent.  To be fair, there's a lot going on with a rolling European debt/banking crisis,...

The current environment most resembles that of late 2008, but with one key difference: our leaders are now somewhat aware of the scale of this crisis and they are prepared to support markets. Heck even the Swiss are devaluing, which means a retest of new lows in stocks is unlikely in most markets....

There are many ideas about market timing, stock valuation, and financial ratios. Text books, popular finance books, blogs, and television offer a buffet of theories. The goal for all is buy low and sell high, right? But how to do so is not easy. Use the Dividend Yield to Value the MarketThis...

Crude oil is vulnerable as S&P 500 stock index futures point to risk aversion into the close of the trading week while gold appears to have formed an important top. Talking Points Crude Oil Vulnerable as S&P 500 Futures Point to Risk Aversion Gold Technical Setup Hints Significant...

Wow, what an amazing day yesterday! Days like yesterday, while not for the faint of heart, are days that I enjoy. We made a 40 point move in the S&P. It is important to note that historically, a 20 point move in the S&P is normal in a year. This was 40 points in one day! With a break of...

Last night on the "Off the Charts" newsletter, it was stated that GLD was looking like it was setting up for an interesting trade to the downside as it hovered by the accelerated downtrend. This morning, GLD gapped down and opened at $174.61, below yesterday's low of $176.05. The break of the...

David Banister has released his new projections for Gold here.  You'll remember last week I posted a gold forecast projecting a short-term dip.  It's possible that "dip" could be coming to an end if Banister is correct.  The smarter play, however, may be to look at GDX (Gold Miners ETF) because the...

Today Greece got the wink-wink-nod-nod it needed when France & Germany stated that it will remain in the Euro Zone.  The market devoured that news running higher more than 200 Dow points.  Ultimately, some of the enthusiasm wore off and market floated back down into the close.  Still a...

[Wow. I thought it was going to be kind of interesting (and maybe a little funny) to look back at some September 2008 items while I'm away but, after reading about how misguided policymakers were then and seeing how little has changed, it's just kind of sad. Originally published on September 23rd,...

A good overview of the entire market and economic environment from hedge hogger Doug Kass.  I find myself agreeing with the majority of his thought process here. Worth the full read, here are the arching overviews. As an aside, there are some stunning data points on equity outflows from the market...