The markets did their best cliff dive imitation during the last hour of trading and surrendered all gains of what appeared to be a nice rebound. Causing the sudden change in sentiment were comments from Fed chairman Bernanke, during which he saw the recovery as uneven and also warned against a “sudden fiscal contraction” if spending would not be brought …
Major Market ETFs Take It On The Chin
While most individual economic reports have only a limited effect on market direction, today’s triple combination of nothing but disappointing data knocked the major indexes to the mat. And, unlike many instances in the past, there was no afternoon rebound, as the chart (courtesy of MarketWatch.com) shows. First, ADP’s national employment report came in weaker than worst expectations, which now …
Major Market ETFs Succumb To Bearish Pressures
In last Friday’s market commentary, I suggested that over-indebted countries like Greece, Ireland and Portugal, among others, can’t and eventually won’t pay back the burden of continuously shouldering the mother of all indebtedness. While the ECB and most governments are still in denial of that fact, anxiety surrounding the euro zone debt drama increased over the weekend and global markets …
Oil ETFs Suffer From Demand Fear
Crude oil took a steep dive today and closed below the $100 level for the first time since the middle of March. USO, the ETF equivalent, lost 9.11% for the day. The entire commodity index followed suit with DBC dropping 6.7%, while gold (GLD) and silver (SLV) gave back 2.88% and 11.89% respectively. The dollar was the beneficiary and gained …
ETFs On The Slide
There’s no question which news event ruled the day. From the get go, it was S&P’s announcement that it is cutting its outlook on U.S. government debt to negative, which could threaten its pristine AAA rating. The major market ETFs dropped like a rock, but afternoon bargain hunting limited losses somewhat. Good thing there wasn’t another negative news report, or …
Major Market ETFs Sink On Weak Economic Outlook
There was no green number to be found in today’s market pullback, as the chart from MarketWatch clearly shows. It was a day during which recovery worries clearly surfaced as it appeared that the economy may not be as strong as had been previously assumed. While these inconvenient thoughts have surfaced from time to time, bullish sentiment has always won …