Whiplash! The Stock Markets!
The market’s abrupt about-face left investors and analysts grasping for explanations.
“I have no idea,” said Michael Feroli, an economist at J.P. Morgan Chase. “The markets have two minds here. On the one hand, the data continues to be terrible. On the other hand, I think there’s people trying to pick bottoms here.”
The rally surprised many because it came on another day of glum government data that presages a broad and lasting economic downturn.
Stocks had drifted all morning, then dropped off a cliff. The Dow Jones industrial average briefly fell below 8,000 points.
“It’s whiplash,” said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at Standard & Poor’s. “There’s still no direction one way or another.”
Thursday’s roller coaster came after three days of losses for Wall Street. The Dow lost nearly 8 percent of its value since Monday, and the S.&P. was down 9 percent for the week — sharp declines that bring markets near lows they reached at the end of October.
Down over 300 at one point and ending up over 550!! Whew, that's volatility!!
Looks like mostly energy and real estate companies that took the market up so much, from Bloomberg.com:
Exxon Mobil, the largest oil company, climbed 9.4 percent to $75.41 and
contributed most to the S&P 500's advance. Chevron, the second-biggest
The gains in oil producers came after the valuation of the S&P 500
Energy Index retreated to less than 6.2 times earnings for the group, the
cheapest since Bloomberg began tracking the data in 1995.
Real estate companies in the S&P 500, which slid 32 percent in October,
rose nearly 12 percent today, the biggest advance among 24 industry groups.
Comments