Stocks started off the day strong as hopes that the Fed would bring good news had most major indexes up over 1% upon market open. But as Ben Bernanke and company usually do, they left the door open for further QE, sparking a massive sell-off that quickly threw equities back into negative territory. The Dow lost 66 points while the S&P 500 sink by nearly 0.90%. The greenback had a second strong day against the euro which has yet to halt its skid over the past few weeks. Gold, though starting off the day in positive territory, took a harsh hit of -1.9%, putting the precious metal below $1,650/oz for the first time in recent memory. One of the only winners on the day, surprisingly, was crude oil, which jumped by 2.5% to close above the triple digit mark [see also 12 High-Yielding Commodities For 2012].
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Markets got off to a rocky start as unfavorable news from Europe put a damper on the day from the beginning. Though major indexes started off down about 1%, both the Dow and S&P were able to go positive on the day, just barely finishing above level. 10 year bonds took the biggest hit on [...]
Today saw yet another strong day for markets as hopes that the euro zone will come to an efficient solution fueled markets higher. Unfortunately, as the day came to a close, S&P issued a warning that it has put a number of European countries on credit watch. S&P is perhaps best known for their downgrade of U.S. [...]
This past week was marked by strong markets that sent November out with a bang. The good news started with strong Black Friday sales despite worries that a slow economy would scare consumers away from using their discretionary income. Next came the news that leaders of the euro zone were hard at work for a new plan [...]
With the finish line in sight, it’s fairly safe to say that 2011 will be remembered by most investors as a wild, back-and-forth year that brought plenty of both hope and despair. A hot start raised optimism of a continued recovery after a generally impressive 2011, but the summer months were anything but relaxing; major [...]
After the best performance since early 2009, markets finished today relatively flat as no major data or news had an effect on stocks. Both the Dow and S&P dipped by about 0.20% while the NASDAQ jumped by that same amount. Gold suffered by just $1/oz. while oil saw slight losses but was able to hold [...]
Despite recent market woes, today saw a stellar performance across the board. Major indexes posted their best day in recent memory with the Dow surging by nearly 500 points and the S&P 500 jumping by 4.3%, leaving the index just shy of 1,250. Just weeks ago investors were worried when the S&P dipped below 1,250, [...]
Markets opened the week on a low note as investors were not only fearful of the European debt crisis, but also of the deadlines for our own deficit issues,which are drawing near. The day saw the Dow surrender 74 points while the S&P brought in the worst performance by losing close to 1%. With an [...]
Today saw markets see-saw back and forth as investors had trouble making up their minds on whether or not the euro-zone was a big enough issue to warrant a sell-off. The day started off rough, but things eventually rebounded, pushing the Dow through the 12,000 mark as the massive index gained 85 points on the [...]
Last week was turbulent one for equities as the Greek debt situation dominated headlines. The week opened up on a dismal note as the news came that a Greek referendum was in place in regards to the planned bailout package. Equities tanked for the following two days, only to recover on the Fed’s comments, or [...]
After closing one of the better weeks in recent memory, investors were content to see most major asset classes finish out the week in the black. As October comes to a close and we enter the Halloween weekend, the outlook on the overall economy is anything but scary. In fact, with a stunning GDP growth, [...]
