What to Make of a Go-Nowhere Stock Market
The stock market is taking it slow.
A couple days ago ZeroHedge pointed out just how quiet the S&P has been:The S&P 500 closed its 12th straight session with a daily move of less than 0.3% on Friday, its longest such streak on record, according to The Wall Street Journal’s Market Data Group.
As the Journal’s Morning MoneyBeat newsletter notes, it’s the same story with the Dow: If the blue-chip index has another move of less than 0.5% on Monday, it would be the 17th session in a row, the longest such streak since 2010.
The market is often slow during the summer, but this year is particularly calm. The Dow has had only 31 moves of more than 0.5% this year, the least for any comparable period since 1964. The Dow’s average daily move in either direction so far this year is 0.31%, also the smallest since 1964, when it hit a record-low 0.30%.
The small moves have come despite concerns that the market has climbed too much since the presidential election. President Donald Trump‘s agenda, including tax cuts, deregulation, and infrastructure spending, boosted the markets immediately after the election but progress on those items has stalled. Still, the Dow is up almost 21% since Nov. 8.
The tiny daily swings could be seen as a sign that investors are making more measured decisions with their money, rather than giving into the exuberance that has marked past manias....MORE
Dead.Market.Walking
While all eyes have been focused on the incessant rise in the price-weighted farce known as The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a funny thing happened in the 'real' market...
The S&P 500 went nowhere...
...MORE
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