Friends
Stocks suffered quite a selloff today. Worries about interest rates and the perceived hawkishness of the Fed were top of the list, but also there are concerns that we have seen a peak in earnings and companies will be warning about higher input costs over the coming weeks. Then as stocks fell, various support levels were violated which triggered more selling. All in all, just a terrible day for stocks.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 831 points to finish the day at 25,598. The S&P 500 was down 94 points to close at 2,785. Gold was UP $5 to trade at $1,196 per ounce, while oil was down $2.13 to trade at $72.83 per barrel WTI.
Interestingly about 25% of the S&P 500 is already in bear market territory. As we have noted for some time now, the market averages have been elevated by just a handful of large cap stocks. On a broader level, the markets have been more challenged than one might have noticed on the surface. No doubt, if you were in the wrong stocks in 2018, you could have way underperformed the market averages.
We were due for a pull back, but as we know things fall much faster than they rise. That’s just the way it works, especially in this day in age of electronic trading and algorithms. Volatility, as we always say, is part of the process.
Praying for those in the Florida Panhandle.
Have a nice evening everyone.
