Month: January 2015

January 25. 2015

Market Review

After being closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, U.S. markets gathered momentum throughout most of the week, whereas positive news from the ECB bond buying program appeared to drive much of the gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded a weekly increase of 0.9 percent and finished at 17,672.60. The S&P 500 climbed 1.6 percent to 2,051.82 during a holiday-shortened week. The Nasdaq closed at 4,757.88 and rose 2.7 percent during the week, its biggest such advance since October. Technology was the top gainer among the S&P 500?s 10 major sectors. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), known as Wall Street?s ?fear gauge,? fell more than 20 percent for the week and ended at 16.66. Read More

January 18. 2015

Market Review

In last week's comment we highlighted the fact that we expected to see further sharp swings in both directions as the market remained in a tug-of-war for the very short-time frame. Moreover, we mentioned that we remained outright cautious as the current consolidation period could easily turn out to be corrective in its nature! In fact, after several extreme volatile sessions, stocks finished lower on the week, down about 1 percent. Although major U.S. benchmarks remained within 4 percent of their all-time or multiyear highs, the technical picture of the market continued to deteriorate, especially on a mid-term time frame. Therefore, major troubles might be at hand soon! Read More

January 11. 2015

Market Review

Last week all three major U.S. averages ended in negative territory again. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.5 percent from last Friday's close to 17,737.37. The S&P 500 dropped 0.7 percent to 2,044.81 during the week. The Nasdaq Composite recorded a 0.5 percent loss for the week and closed at 4,704.07. Among the key S&P sectors, health care was the best weekly performer, while energy dragged. The CBOE Volatility Index, a measure of investor uncertainty, fell to 17.55. Read More

January 04. 2015

Market Review

All three U.S. indexes finished the first week of the year in negative territory. For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.2 percent to 17832.99. The S&P 500 dropped 1.5 percent to 2,058.20 in the holiday-shortened week. The Nasdaq lost 1.7 percent from last Friday's finish to 4726.8. All key S&P sectors finished in the red for the week, dragged by technology. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the gauge of S&P 500 options known as the VIX, advanced to 17.79. Read More