Friends  The markets couldn't catch a break yesterday. Everything that could go wrong did, led by the disappointing news from Apple. Today, it was just the opposite. First, we got an eye popping non-farm payroll number with 312,000 new jobs created in December. In...

Friends  After the close yesterday, Apple pre-announced a significant downgrade to their first quarter earnings estimate. When the world's biggest company warns of bad news, markets tend to get a bit jittery. Stocks opened lower this morning despite a very strong ADP...

Friends  We turned the page on 2018, but it appears volatility isn't going away any time soon. After a 400 point Dow dip early in today's trading session, stocks gathered themselves and posted small gains by the close. If you want to find a bit of a silver lining over...

Friends  The markets were kind enough to end on a high note. I guess that's the least they could do after the December that they put us through. Stocks opened higher, gave up the gains midday, but rallied into the close.  For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average...

Friends  To say it was a quiet day of trading because stocks only had a trading range of about 450 points seems a bit crazy, but that's how it felt today. Yes, during the session we were down a couple hundred Dow points and up a couple hundred Dow points, but it all...

Friends  Well, that was fun. It wasn't a surprise that stocks sold off this morning after yesterday's 1000 point Dow rally. As late as the second to last hour of trading, the Dow was sporting a rather hideous 600 point decline. But, by the closing bell all the losses...

Friends  Finally a bounce off of a massive oversold condition. Monday's shortened trading session was such a mess I didn't have the heart to send out an email as it might have ruined Christmas for some of you. But, we recovered Monday's losses and then some today...

Friends  Well, what a week (the worst since the financial crisis). I'll be entering my 34th year in this business, and other than for a period of time in late 2008 and early 2009, I've never seen sentiment this bad (and I endured the 87 crash). Stocks are simply being...

Friends  Pessimism reigns supreme. Stocks tumbled once again today, as negative sentiment continues to permeate the market, despite the fact that the leading economic indicators number was actually better than expected. The bears had the upper hand from the opening...

Friends  As expected, the Fed raised rates a quarter of a point today. The fed funds rate now sits at 2.25%-2.50%. But, what was unexpected was the lack of dovishness in the Fed statement. Simply put, the Fed has a different view of the economy than the market does....

Friends  Stocks got off to a good start this morning as traders prepared for the Fed announcement on interest rates tomorrow. The Dow was sporting a 300 point gain at one point, but as the trading session wore on, stocks began to falter and by mid-afternoon all the...

Friends  Yes, stocks fell again today. What was the cause of today's bloodletting? Well, at moments like these, stocks do not need a reason to go down. Selling begets selling, and pessimism begets pessimism. Right now any news is bad news. Sentiment is so negative...

Friends  Simply put, we're dealing with a bear market. More than half the stocks in the S&P 500 are down more than 20% from their highs, so though the market averages aren't down 20% in total (the official measure of a bear market), we'll call it what it is. Heck,...