David Moenning's Daily State of the Markets: 4/28 Apr 28, 2009 10:11AM

Coming Down With Something?

Most of the chatter in the market yesterday had to do with the swine flu. And while I hate to sound unsympathetic, so far at least, this is not an issue we need to be spending much time on from a stock market perspective. For example, there have been 149 reported deaths so far in Mexico from this ugly virus. But to put this into perspective, I heard a report yesterday that something like 36,000 people die each year from the flu, which, if my math is correct, is something on the order of 3,000 flu deaths each month. So, before you go and sell all of your stocks because of the economic mayhem the swine flu will cause, you might want to consider putting things into perspective.

Again, please don’t think me an uncaring, black-hearted sole. My point is that so far at least, this ...


David Moenning's Daily State of the Markets: 4/27 Apr 27, 2009 09:40AM

Lots of Reasons, But...

One of the most interesting aspects of the market action these days has to be the inability for stocks to decline for any length of time. While there have been lots of reasons for the bears to get something going to the downside, the bottom line is our furry friends have failed at every turn so far.

For example, although there have been some green shoots sprouting up which seem to indicate that the rate of decline is indeed slowing in the economy, there are also plenty of reports showing how bad things are at the present time. Next, there is undoubtedly some apprehension about the “stress tests” being given to the nation’s 19 biggest banks. And quite frankly, this is the type of uncertainty that usually creates a little selling pressure. And finally, if earnings season has taught us anything so far it is that companies ...


David Moenning's Daily State of the Markets: 10/24 Oct 24, 2008 10:03AM

What Does It Mean?

For those of you that like a little movement in your daily dose of stock market action, you were not disappointed yesterday and you most certainly won’t be today. Yesterday stocks bounded back and forth and back and forth all day long, moving 100 points every five minutes or so with seemingly little effort – or better yet, with even less reason. In case you missed it, the Dow swung in a 550 point range on Thursday with at least 11 different swings of 150 points over ten to fifteen minute spans. So yes, Virginia, volatility definitely remains a little elevated. But the question is what does it mean?

One of the things we’ve talked about extensively in our Crash Playbook is that volatility tends to stick around for a while, even after a panic low has been seen. And so, while it may not be ...