Hanging by a Thread

Hanging by a Thread

The theme of this week’s market commentary is “hanging by a thread.” We highlight a few indicators illustrating why the current state of the stock market is precarious—including a chart that underscores the fragility of this year’s gains—and discuss the implications of this situation for our primary stock market risk model.

Playing Chicken

Playing Chicken

OVERVIEW   U.S. stocks fell last week as volatility reemerged on Wall Street. The VIX Index—a measure of investors’ expectations for market volatility—rose 25% for the week. The result was pretty large losses for the major U.S. stock indices. The S&P 500 fell...
Money Matters

Money Matters

OVERVIEW   The U.S. stock market rebounded last week, with the S&P 500 gaining 2.5% and the Nasdaq surging 3.25%. The Dow registered a smaller gain of about 1.43%. Foreign stocks had a strong outing as well. Developed country stocks increased 2.46%, and...
Choppy

Choppy

OVERVIEW   It was a mixed bag of results for U.S. stocks last week. The S&P rose 0.82%, the Nasdaq soared 2.26%, and the Dow fell 0.45%. Growth stocks led the way, gaining 1.66%, whereas value stocks declined 0.25%. Small caps also fell about 0.4%. It was a...
Price Weakness

Price Weakness

OVERVIEW   All three major U.S. stock indices fell more than 2% last week as the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq recorded their third consecutive weekly declines. Small-cap stocks performed even worse, dropping around 3.4% for the week. Even foreign stocks were under...