As expected, the Fed announced yesterday that interest rates would remain at their historic low levels. Normally, this should have cheered investors, but this time it was interpreted (correctly) that it was simply a sign of the economy struggling. Fears have been increasing lately that we might slip back into a recession, which would postpone any rate increases for at …
Recovery Doubts
Weak housing and worries about Europe proved to be too much for the market yesterday and, after a modest opening rebound to higher levels, the major indexes slid for the remainder of the session as the chart above (courtesy of MarketWatch.com) shows. The S&P; 500 ended up below the 1,100 level and broke below its key technical indicator, the 200-day …
The Rally That Wasn’t
In a repeat performance similar to what we’ve witnessed so many times over the past few months, the markets turned an early intraday 140 point gain of the Dow into a losing session starting the week on a negative note. The losses were modest, so not much should be read into them. The driver for the morning rally was the …
More ETF Price Cutting
I am all in favor of lower fees when it comes to investment products. Charles Schwab & Co. (my custodian) has again upped the ante in “ETF deals get even better as Schwab cuts prices in price war:”Maybe the day will come when they will pay you to buy ETFs. That will be a great day, but don’t count on …
Sunday Musings: A Personal View
Reader Mel emailed the following comment: For some reason I was blocked from commenting on today’s blog. Here’s what I wanted to say, and you can feel free to post it: As always, I’m grateful for your posts, including the ones that re- post something interesting from elsewhere, but in this case I was especially interested in your comments. I …
Out For The Day
I am out for most of the day and will not have a chance to post. However, I will resume tomorrow with Sunday Musings.