A Few Dollars More

So far this pullback has lasted a mere thirteen days. During that time the Dow has corrected 6.9%, the NASDAQ 8 % and the benchmark S&P 500 has lost 7.4 %.That makes it the deepest correction since the rally began in March, 2009 and it’s not over yet.

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In case you forgot how painful corrections can be, this week reminded most folks that financial markets can move in both directions. Yet I’m not seeing any panic, which may or may not be a good thing. The best I can say for the markets right now is that we are at least half way [...]

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It’s been quite a week on Wall Street.  In fact, it’s been the worse week of downside since October, 2009.  But don’t fret; this is not the beginning of a second collapse, regardless of the claims of the hibernating Perma-Bears who are suddenly coming out of their caves.   Instead, I suggest you look at it [...]

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It is no surprise that the markets were having a hard time moving higher this week. Investors went into this fourth quarter earnings season primed for another big leg up. The problem is that so much of their expectations are already discounted by the market.

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For most of the nation and certainly here in the Berkshires, we are up to our knees in the white stuff and bears are supposed to hibernate in the winter. Hopefully, the same will be true in the stock market.

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Now that the remaining days of 2009 have come and gone, there’s little to say about this year’s Christmas Rally. It appears Santa was a might stingy as far as the stock market was concerned.

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This week saw the markets advance, despite some disappointing economic data, but progress can only be described as Grinch-like. Still, there’s nothing in the tea leaves that indicate that this coming week will be anything more than a big yawn at worst and maybe a moderate new yearly high at best.

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A contrarian is a person who prefers to take positions and views that are opposite of those in the majority. There is also a practice of some on the Street that when some event or person reaches the cover of a prominent national magazine, it is time to move on or to take a ‘contrarian’ [...]

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We have been stuck in a trading range since early November. It is the most extended period of narrow, sideways trading we have experienced since hitting a low on the S&P 500 Index of 666 back in March. Since then the index has rallied 62%. That’s the largest gain for the S&P since 1933. Normally, [...]

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We’ll give the bulls an ‘A” for effort. Every day this week they pushed the S&P 500 higher, making two new yearly highs, before sellers appeared to drive the averages back down.

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