U.S. stocks and global markets fell sharply at the beginning of the week as the Russian ruble collapsed. This meltdown spread fears of contagion throughout the world while sending our markets down over 5% within a one week span. Then like clockwork, in a statement after the conclusion of the latest Federal Reserve meeting, the central bank reiterated that it is in no hurry to raise interest rates. This was enough to send the Dow Jones Industrial Average (chart) soaring 4.15% over the past two trading sessions, the Nasdaq (chart) gained an eye-popping 4.41%, the S&P 500 (chart) jumped 4.48% and the small-cap Russell 2000 (chart) over the past two trading sessions posted a staggering 4.63% gain. Yes folks, these two-day gains are not a typo.
Seemingly, time and time again, whenever there is a U.S. stock market correction in the making, the Fed steps in and calms the nerves of investors. The question I have is when will the musical chairs stop? What a tough climate to invest in especially when you really can’t gauge the fundamentals as the markets are heavily reliant on what the Federal Reserve does or does not do. When the markets were selling off, technicals broke down, moving averages were violated and the bears were beginning to growl. However, as we have witnessed over the past 5 years or so, it has been painful to be bearish on equities and any sell-off has been short lived. It may indeed take rising interest rates to slow down this bull market? Until then, it’s great to be a bull. That said, I am going to sidelines between now and year-end for a much needed break, and to see how things settle out.
Both Paula and I wish everyone a very safe and happy holiday season 🙂
~George