Friends

10 years ago today (actually March 9^th 2009) in the midst of the great financial crisis, stocks finally bottomed after a more than 50% drop in a year and a half. At that moment it was the second more than 50% drop in the stock market in less than 10 years. I had been through the crash of October 1987 (at Merrill Lynch at the time), and the dot.com bubble bursting bear market which began in early 2000, but without a doubt the financial crisis bear market of 2008 and early 2009 was the worst period of time in my 34 years in the business. It really wasn’t about the stock market in 2008, it was more about the survival of the financial system. When liquidity disappeared, stocks were the only liquid game in town, and thus were under relentless selling pressure for months. In 2000, the dot.com craze pushed stocks to unsustainable levels. The subsequent downturn was a stock market event. But, not 2008 and 2009. Stocks were reasonably priced at the time. Unfortunately real estate was not.

This daily update was born in October of 2008. In an attempt to keep lines of communication open with our clients, at a time when no one really knew what was unfolding and what the future held, we decided that the only way to keep everyone informed and up to date on a daily basis was with an email. It would be impossible to talk to everyone every day, so this was our alternative. Well, as we found out, it became a comfort to our clients to hear from us each and every day, and though we didn’t necessarily have any answers, at least we kept them informed about what was going on. And, there was a lot going on. The Fed, Congress and the President all were grasping for answers, but solutions seemed difficult to agree upon. In the end, we got through it all and the S&P 500 is now more than 4 times higher than it was on March 9, 2009. Along the way, our clients seemed to enjoy the daily updates even when we weren’t in time of crisis, and thus I still try to write an update every day. I hope you continue to enjoy them.

As for today, stocks slumped after a surprisingly weak jobs number, but recovered most of those losses in the last hour of trading. Sure, the unemployment rate fell to 3.8% and wages continue to climb, but 20,000 new jobs was way lower than expected. Again, January’s number was way higher than expected, so averaged out the numbers seem about right.

For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 23 points to close at 25,450. The S&P 500 was down 5 points to finish the day at 2,743. Gold was up $13 to trade at $1,300 per ounce, while oil was down $.57 to trade at $56.09 per barrel WTI.

We’ll leave it there for today. Let’s see what next week has in store for us.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Jim

Friends

Stocks continue to lose a little bit of luster as we move into March. Today’s ADP private payroll number was about as expected and estimates are for Friday’s government non-farm payroll number to show about 180,000 new jobs were created in February. But, stocks seem to be experiencing a modest buyers strike at the moment. Volatility is still somewhat muted, but the direction has had a downward slope for several days now.

By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 133 points to finish the day at 25,673. The S&P 500 was down 18 points to close at 2,771. Gold was up $2 to trade at $1,287 per ounce, while oil was down $.34 to trade at $56.22 per barrel WTI.

As we have mentioned, it’s not a bad thing that we would take a pause after such a robust rally off the Christmas Eve low, but it is a little disconcerting that we can’t get decisively above the 2800 resistance mark on the S&P. By the way, today marks the 10 year anniversary of the intraday market low of 666 on the S&P 500. The market didn’t bottom on a closing basis until the 9th of March 2009, but the March 6th intraday low was such an ominous number, market participants will never quiet forget it. It’s really amazing that we’re whining about 2800 10 years later. I can tell you with serious conviction, that on March 6, 2009 the S&P 500 reaching 2800 seemed like a fairy tale. Memories.

Have a nice evening everyone.

Jim

Friends

This morning’s GDP release was quite a pleasant surprise. With most analysts expecting a number south of 2% for the 4th quarter of 2018, it was a bit of a stunner that we saw 2.6% growth in the quarter. Even more surprising was how business investment contributed to the strong number, as did consumer spending. Along with that surprisingly good news, we got a robust and much better than expected Chicago PMI number. So, though we do seem to be in a bit of a slowdown, and almost assuredly a slowdown in corporate earnings (after the massive increase the past two years), the bulls can hang their hat on the fact that the slowdown sure doesn’t look like a recession- at least not at this point.

Despite the good economic data, stocks slumped, perhaps partially due to the lack of a deal with the North Koreans, but more likely we simply have run up against resistance in the middle of very overbought conditions. In other words, it wouldn’t be bad if we took a breather. For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 69 points to close at 25,915. The S&P 500 was down 7 points to close at 2,784. Gold was down $6 to trade at $1,315 per ounce, while oil was up $.25 to trade at $57.19 per barrel WTI.

Stocks have shown signs of fatigue this week. Let’s see how we close out the week tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Have a nice evening everyone.

Jim