Financial markets around the globe are suffering from a bad case of leptokurtosis. This is not a viral disease but a statistical condition. Leptokurtosis is what is known as “fat-tailed” returns. Put another way, market returns are larger – both up and down – than under normal market conditions. Not only are closing returns much […]
Since I last published my commentary, the equity markets in the US have experienced three late day, for the most part, last hour plunges. On the other trading day, Monday, the markets rallied steadily from the opening bell. All told, since the beginning of last week, the Standard & Poor’s 500 (SPX) has declined nearly […]
Last week I highlighted some of the reasons behind the recent market sell-off: rising bond yields; algorithmic trading; robo advisors and the Dodd-Frank Act Volker rule. Rising bond yields are due to strong economic growth. Algorithmic trading only benefits a very few trading firms and hurts the rest of the market. Robo Advisors are an […]
I grew up in Brooklyn, not far from Coney Island. Of course, one of the world’s most famous attractions, the landmark Cyclone roller coaster, was my favorite amusement ride. After a ride on the Cyclone, you could keep on taking repeat rides for an amount less than the original ticket cost. For one of my […]
The markets began the month of September by taking its cue from August. It started out rather suspiciously with pre-market futures gapping lower on no real news. Given that pre-market futures trade very thinly, it looked like some market manipulation was going on. Regulators are catching up to these thieves but there is always a […]
When you read the box score for a sports game you really don’t get a feel for what took place on the field. All that you obtain is the bottom line, the final score. While the bottom line, i.e. the closing prices, is important in the world of investing, the ebb and flow of activity […]
Apple (AAPL), CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), Dow Jones Industrials (DJIA), NASDAQ Composite (IXIC), ProShares Ultra Short Gold (GLL), S&P 500 (SPX)The markets bent but did not break yesterday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 (SPX) at its worst declined over 24 points or 1.34%, only to close off 16.4 points or 0.89%. Initially the raison d’etre for the selloff was attributed to earnings and economic data. However, problems in the emerging markets are beginning to bubble […]
McDonalds (MCD), S&P 500 (SPX)The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee or FOMC came down from its financial Mt. Olympus to deliver a decision on monetary policy. The market was as I predicted flattish, up till then. The headline decision was to decrease its monthly purchases of bonds by $10 billion to $75 billion. That is what was referred to […]
Darden Restaurants (DRI), Dow Jones Industrials (DJIA), Facebook (FB), Google (GOOG), Hershey (HSY), Nike (NKE), S&P 500 (SPX)