The key indices had one of their worst performing weeks of the year. For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (chart) fell 2.23%, the Nasdaq (chart) pulled back 1.57%, the S&P 500 (chart) -2.1% and the small-cap Russell 2000 (chart) closed the week down 2.3%. It’s important to note that other than the Dow Jones Industrial Average (chart), the aforementioned other key indexes remained at or above their 50-day moving averages. Stocks reacted to rising interest rates and weak retail sales reported by several retailers including Walmart (NYSE: WMT) which missed on thier earnings as well as providing a somber outlook. Furthermore, bellwether Cisco Systems (NasdaqGS: CSCO) also issued cautious forward guidance during their post earnings release conference call on Wednesday.

So the question now becomes is this a blip on the radar, or a preview of things to come? All year long stocks have been propped up by the most accommodative Fed in history. I also have been writing about the need for top-line growth out of corporate America in order for this bull market to continue. To that point, I have been simply wrong from the standpoint that central banks from around the world continue to pour liquidity into the system and continue to keep interest at or near zero. This policy has taken the emphasis off of how well corporate earnings are actually doing. As Q2 earnings reporting season begins to wind down, there is growing evidence of tepid growth at best, especially in the retail space. Furthermore, the companies that have beat estimates have done so by running a tighter ship and getting more productivity from their current workforce.

Personally, I would like to see how this corrective action plays out over the next few weeks before I am comfortable deploying any long or short strategies in the marketplace. To that end, let’s not forget we are smack in the middle of the dog days of summer, and with most money managers at the beach, volume tends to be very light. Good luck to all.

Have a great weekend 🙂

~George