Breaking With Bogle

In his Washington Post column yesterday, Barry Ritholtz treated us all to a pretty terrific five minute course on investing, both giving praise to and taking issue with that venerable godfather of index buy-and-hold trading, the one and only John Bogle.  I'm sure you're all familiar with that legendary name, the man who founded Vanguard Group 40 years ago and has since revolutionized the financial services industry with currently an astounding $3 trillion dollars under management.  This is really fun reading.  Enjoy and try not to let the coming mammoth snow storm spoil your Super Bowl weekend.

Wall St. closes down for January, Shake Shack rallies in debut

Another genuine rout today, but it didn't look that way for most of the day.  The morning started out tough with the Dow down more than 150 points by noon, but then rallied again.  As late as 3 p.m. all the losses were recouped and the day came very close to ending in positive territory.  Then very suddenly in the last hour a selloff sent the index plummeting 252 points.  What happened to explain this?  Not much.  Sure, there were a couple of negative Q4 reports.  But until today they'd been mostly positive and the overall Q4 picture remains so.  Yet, just one hour of bad trading now has all the skeptics believing again that we are headed for doom.  Yes, we found out that business investment in Q4 was half of that in Q3.  But then, we already knew that several days ago.  Yes, Greece issued a statement that it would not cooperate with the EU; but then, with the election results last Sunday, that was already a given.  Didn't they say on Monday that the market had already factored that in?  Little did they know.  And yes, there is continued concern that Europe may drag down U.S. corporate earnings but, not only has that concern been out there for quite some time now, but so far Q4 results have belied it.  There was also quite a lot of good news.  Consumer spending  is at its fastest pace since 2006.  Energy had a great day, with crude rising 8% upon news that the oil companies have drastically reduced the number of operating oil rigs, in fact the biggest decline in drilling since 1987, a sign that we're finally addressing the glut problem by cutting production.  Consumer sentiment is at its highest in 11 years due to positive job and wage prospects.  And anyone who got in on the Shake Shack IPO saw their investment more than double today.  So why the big selloff in the last hour?  The answer is -- who knows?  The only thing that seems to be consistent in this market is that no one knows anything.  But then I think we've always known that.  If there's any truth to trends, my guess is that it will be back up again on Monday.  Volume was very strong at 8.5 billion shares.

Wall St. finishes higher in afternoon rally as oil gains

I predicted Tuesday that the next hint of good news would spark another big rally.  That's exactly what happened today when positive reports from Apple and Boeing sent the Dow soaring 225 points.  But it was a rocky day, dropping a hundred points right out the gate but then soaring more than another 300 before closing the session.  Good news also came from the energy sector with crude soaring a whopping 8 cents.  Yes, not much, but the psychological impact was significant enough to send the entire energy index back into positive territory after starting the day with more than  a 0.5% loss.  We also received one of the most encouraging labor reports in years, unemployment applications falling to their lowest levels in 15 years, signaling that hiring remains bullish.  Volume was robust at 7.7 billion shares.

Wall Street ends lower after Fed statement, oil drop

Another big down day to the tune of 196 points on the Dow.  And why?  Because the Fed issued one of its most positive reports to date giving a glowing evaluation of the nation's economic recovery and reiterating once again that long overdue interest rate hikes are still in our future, though probably not until near year-end.  It seems investors haven't quite yet made up their minds as to whether they really want a recovery.  The low interest rates have made it possible for many companies to raise capital cheaply which has lead to more product, more sales, more profit and the desirable rise in stock and mutual fund prices.  But this good news also means that the economy should be weaned off the government umbilical cord and that means that interest rates must eventually be market-driven again. The market doesn't seem to know whether it wants that or not.  The Fed's rosy report also had the predictable outcome of strengthening the dollar which in turn hit oil and other commodities harder with the energy index once again dipping 4% and crude falling to $44.31 per barrel.  Bonds also benefited from the report and when bonds do better, stocks do worse.  All in all, a bad reaction to good news.  Volume was heavier than usual at 7.6 billion.

Wall Street falls 1 percent on earnings; Apple rallies late

Another shellacking on The Street today with the Dow plunging a whopping 291 points.  This was all mostly due to a number of major bellwether companies reporting disappointing Q4 earnings, with their respective prices plunging along with the index.  Among these large companies were such noteworthy names as Microsoft, Caterpillar, P&G and DuPont.  Another blow to today's market was a report of business investment unexpectedly falling in December, taken as a sign that those in the know expect trouble.  On the plus side, consumer confidence was rated its highest since August 2007, no doubt as a consequence of all the extra cash people have due to the low price of gas.  Of course the biggest plus is that, even though a few major companies have disappointed, most of the companies that have so far submitted Q4 reports have had results that have exceeded expectations.  But today, the few losers are what caught investors' attention.  Some experts have dismissed this as mere profit-taking, other more cynical observers take it as confirmation of their fears of a poor Q4.  My guess is that the next positive report will shoot the index right back up again.   Volume was 6.5 billion shares, below 2015 averages but above 2014.

Wall Street rises after Greek elections; energy climbs

For weeks now Wall Street (and the global markets in general) have been dreading yesterday's election in Greece fearing that Syriza, the anti-EU party, would win.  So what happens?  Syriza wins, and nothing happens to the market since, as they put it, "Syriza was priced into the market already."  The Dow did drop this morning a hundred points right out the gate but gained the whole thing back during the course of the session ending up with a 6 point gain.  This uptick was mainly due to OPEC finally coming out and reassuring  the energy markets that, contrary to last week's prediction from Iran, they now believe that oil has bottomed out and will soon be on the rise again, giving the energy index a 1.4% boost.  As of today, 19% of S&P companies have reported Q4 earnings and almost 72% of these have topped expectations.  But due to the historic blizzard that is now pounding the whole of the Eastern seaboard and NYC in particular, volume was light at 6.2 billion.

Succinct Summation of Week’s Events 1/23/15 (& bonus)

Here's the usual Sunday night eye-shot plus a really good explanation about what happened at the European Central Bank on Thursday and how their newly announced QE program is both similar to and different from the one our own Fed has been engaged in the last several years.

10 Weekend Reads

by Barry Ritholtz – Saturday, January 24th, 2015, 7:30am

Good Saturday morning. Pour yourself a strong cup of Sumatra, settle into your favorite chair, and enjoy our longer form weekend reads:

• 22 Smart Investment Ideas (Barron’s)
• How stories change hearts and brains (Aeon)
• Why you should stop relying on your phone, and buy a nice camera (The Verge)
• The Virtue of Scientific Thinking (Boston Review) see also A Theoretical Physicist Explains Why Science Is Not About Certainty (New Republic)
• The mystery of the falling teen birth rate (Vox)
• The Rise and Fall of the U.S. Government (Washington Monthly)
• Why can’t the world’s greatest minds solve the mystery of consciousness? (The Guardian)
• Big Mother Is Watching You: The Track-Everything Revolution Is Here Whether You Want It Or Not (Buzzfeed) see also What does Cambridge sewage say about residents? MIT plans to find out (Boston Globe)
• NHL Dentist Has Some Gory Stories (Bleacher Report)
• The Hunting of Billie Holiday: How Lady Day found herself in the middle of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics’ early fight for survival. (Politico)

Wall Street falls on miners, UPS; indexes up for week

The index was mostly flat all day but then dropped 141 points in the last two hours on tepid news from the materials sector that fell 1.6% due to a report from Goldman Sachs downgrading various miners, with a particularly dramatic thumbs down to the tune of 42% to one particular company, Freeport McMoRan, a copper and gold miner, sending their stock down 4% in one day.  Ouch!  Naturally, their bad grades also extended to the whole of the aluminum, copper, and gold markets.  Nevertheless, investor sentiment remains bullish, helped by Thursday's moves by the ECB, and an upside trend is still seen extending through 2015.  As did happen in Q3, S&P earnings reports have started coming in and so far 18% of the 500 companies are reporting strong earnings, 72% of the reports exceeding expectations.  This compares to an historical average of 63% so Q4 is so far coming in strong.  Volume was fair at 6.4 billion.

Wall St. gains after ECB stimulus move; banks lead

Wall Street got an unexpected pleasant surprise from Europe today when the announced stimulus, which investors had feared would be anemic, turned out much stronger than even rumored.  Though the hopes, but not expectation, was for 50 billion euro, the ECB actually announced a much more ambitious plan to purchase 60 billion euros in bonds every month until 2016.  The predicted rally was gangbusters. The Dow, after initially diving almost a hundred points out the gate, then shot up over 400 points before closing with an impressive 260 point gain.  Even oil began to rally before the announcement of the death of Saudi King Abdullah added more uncertainty to the market.  That combined with the unexpected announcement of even more stockpiling in the already glutted market and crude settled at $46.59/barrel.  Other strong U.S. economic data, particularly from the financial sector, added to the rally, which was on vigorous volume of 7.8 billion shares.

Wall Street up on ECB bets but details, IBM cap gains

Another volatile session with an over 200 point swing between the low and the high but closing with the Dow up 39 points, mostly on expectations of tomorrow's ECB announcement of increased stimulus in Europe.  However, investors remain skeptical that the ECB will be aggressive enough to do any good, even though the rumor is for 50 billion euros in bond purchases every month.  So there'll likely be another rally if the ECB pleases, but a selloff if the expected disappointment materializes.  Energy had a good day with crude gaining 2.8%.  Netflix had a very good day.  Volume was healthy at 6.9 billion.

Wall Street ends flat as hope for ECB move increases

The markets plunged right out the gate this morning, the Dow diving over 150 points, likely triggered by yesterday's developments in the Middle East.  Oil had fallen 1% yesterday and another 4.7% today leaving the price of crude now below $47.  But then the IMF came out with a reduced growth forecast (not much, they trimmed expectations only 0.3%) but that, taken as a sign there would be more central bank action, shot the index back up again to end the day in positive territory, if only to the tune of 4 points.  All eyes now are on the ECB and a hoped for announcement on Thursday for additional stimulus for the EU nations.  The curiosity item for the day is Morgan Stanley which reported an astounding 81% drop in revenue from certain departments but equally astoundingly showed increased profits due to some very successful cost-cutting.  Volume was quite active at 7.2 billion shares, described by Reuters as "moderate" but this is only in comparison to early January trading.  Compared to the last 12 months where the averages were closer to 5 or 6 billion per day, this was pretty healthy.

No OPEC shift, says oil industry could withstand $25 crude

The markets closed today for MLK.  So why with such light trading was oil able to slide still more, down $1 or another 2% to under $49/barrel now?  And what about today's announcement from Iran that the industry can take a price of $25 for crude?  Does that mean OPEC intends to keep up its shenanigans until oil reaches $25?   Or are they just prognosticating like everyone else?  If they do force oil down to that level, does that mean we're looking at $1/gallon for gas in the foreseeable future?  And how is the market going to react to all of this tomorrow?  Stay tuned. (A pretty eventful day for a holiday, eh?)

Succinct Summation of Week’s Events (1/16/15) (+ 2 bonuses)

Here's the usual week-end eye shot that sums up the week's events in one easy to read bulleted page.  It was a big week so there are more bullet points this week.  And as a bonus, two very good short articles.  In the first, Ritholtz takes the prognosticators to the woodshed and warns us not to listen to them too closely since they're methodology is suspect and they're almost always wrong.  (My daily summaries are proof of that.  How many times have I reported on what the experts predicted would happen in the next few days, and how many times did the exact opposite happen?)  The second article is another view of the oil glut crisis,  this time giving the reasons why it's really a good thing, contrary to most of the financial press which has been  portraying it as gloom and doom.  Hope everyone had a great weekend.

10 Weekend Reads

by Barry Ritholtz - January 17th, 2015, 7:30am

That was a week for the record books. Settle into your favorite easy chair, fill a mug of hot joe, and enjoy our longer form weekend reads:

• Google Search Will Be Your Next Brain (Medium)
• How stories change hearts and brains (Aeon) see also What are some of the most mind-blowing facts that sound like “BS”, but are actually true? (Quora)
• Drones are getting better faster than anyone expected (The Verge)
• We Know How You Feel: Computers are learning to read emotion, and the business world can’t wait. (New Yorker)
• The Cannabis Queen of Beverly Hills (NYT Magazine)
• 2014 Breaks Heat Record, Challenging Global Warming Skeptics (NYT) see also Scientists react to warmest year: 2014 underscores ‘undeniable fact’ of human-caused climate change (WaPo)
• Inside the World’s Most Advanced Coffee Laboratory (Vice)
• The NY Police vs. the Mayor (NYRoB) see also The NY Police Union’s Civil War (Daily Beast)
• The Picasso Variations: Why the painter’s late work veers from the sloppy to the sublime. (The Nation)
• The Dark Science of Pop Music (The Atlantic) see also In Music, Uniformity Sells (The Atlantic)

Wall Street rallies after five down days; ends down for week

Energy led the charge (up 3.2%) with oil even bigger (up 5.3%) and it all sparked an impressive rally sending the Dow up 190 points, mostly due to today's International Energy Agency forecast that the 7 month downtrend was near an end.  In other news, the Swiss lifted the cap on the franc yesterday, considered by some to be an illegal move, by others as a necessary incentive for the ECB to increase stimulus next week and keep Greece in the euro zone.  Investors are on the fence weighing the pros and cons amidst robust volume at 7.7 billion shares.  

Wall Street drops for fifth day on global weakness worry; Intel down late

Choppy, choppy day with the Dow swinging back and forth like a teeter-totter, at various times being as much as 140 points down and up almost 100 at other times, but closing 106 down.  With all the reports about the weakness in demand for oil, after only one good day crude continued its slide losing another 4%, the overall energy index falling another 1.2%.  Volatility was up over 4%, a fifth straight day of gains.  The S&P fell below support levels, on this 15th day of the new year now down about 5% from the all-time high it reached December 29th.  In other reports, in December prices had their biggest fall in three years.  The trend continues:  what's good for consumers is bad for the markets.  Volume was hefty at almost 8 billion.

Wall St. ends down for fourth day on global growth worries

Another whopper of a volatile day as the Dow swung 350 points between its low and high before settling down 187 points, today the selloff triggered by a World Bank forecast of a weakening global economy and investors' continued concerns that the crunch in oil will spread to the rest of the market. This was not helped by copper which, after having an exceedingly bad day yesterday, had an even worse time today sinking a whopping 11% and hitting a 5-1/2 year low. Ironically energy, which has been the catalyst for all this gloom and doom, had a remarkably good day for a change with crude snapping up 5.6%, the biggest jump in two years and ending a four day slide.  But we have seen this before in recent weeks and it hasn't lasted.  If it does this time, it could turn things around. For now, uncertainty about growth dominates.  Q4 projections have been adjusted to only 3.6%, down from 11.2% in October.  A word to the wise - the same thing happened in Q3.  Volume was robust at 8.1 billion.

Wall St. ends down in volatile session; materials a drag

Another totally wild day on "The Street." First the Dow dropped like a rock almost 150 points right out the gate, then zoomed up over 400 points during the course of trading and finally settled in at a very modest 27 point loss for the day.  The turmoil once again came from oil and now investors fear the crash in the energy markets may be spreading to other commodities and other sectors. Copper for one fell to its lowest level in over five years. Remember, it wasn't too many years ago that everyone was hoarding pennies and melting them down because the value of the copper was greater than the penny.  Those days are gone.  Still we've seen these upsets before and have usually risen above them. And we certainly heard these sad tales before Q3 numbers came out and proved all the pessimism unfounded.  Much now will depend on Q4 numbers, but expectations have been so lowered now that even nominally good results will probably be taken as terrific news.  Volume was robust at 7.8 billion shares.

Wall St. falls; energy shares dragged down further by oil

Oil continues to crash, down another 5% today alone, and that is now making the market very nervous, nervous enough to send the Dow down nearly 200 points during the day though it did recover somewhat by close to end down 96 points.  But investors are now clearly spooked -- will this impact corporate earnings? Will it put a damper on the entire global economy? Will it threaten to bring all the other markets down with it?  Skittishness was further aggravated by Goldman Sachs slashing its oil price forecasts and OPEC continuing to stubbornly refuse to curb output. Confusion reigns again and everyone awaits Greece's election, though most opine that Greece's exit from the euro zone would be entirely too messy so doubt it will happen.   At 6.4 billion shares, volume is back in line with 2014averages.

Succinct Summations of Week’s Event’s 1/9/15 (+ bonus)

Note:  So after a two week sabbatical, Barry Ritholtz is once again publishing his concise little eye-shot of all the significant events for the week gone by.  Below this is a little bonus, a brief narrative about events with the European Central Bank this week, providing another viewpoint of where the national and global situations stand for this past week:

by Barry Ritholtz - January 9th, 2015, 4:00pm

Positives:

1. The economy added 252k jobs in December.
2. The unemployment rate fell to 5.6%.
3. Revisions to the jobs report added 50k jobs to each of the prior past two months.
4. ADP’s December private payrolls rose by 241k, vs expectations of a 225k rise.
5. U.S. consumer confidence jumped to a seven-year high
6. Eurozone retail sales rose 0.6% m/o/m, better than the expected rise of just 0.2%.
7. German unemployment fell to 6.5%, the lowest level in almost twenty-five years.
8. Vehicle sales came in at 16.8mm SAAR, slightly lower than the 16.9mm expected but still strong and above the 12-month average.

Negatives:

1. Wages rose just 1.7% y/o/y, well below the 2.2% expected and the weakest readings since October 2012.
2. Average hourly earnings fell 0.2% m/o/m.
2. Factory orders fell 0.7% in November, vs the 0.5% expected decline.
3. December was the first time ever that all ten components of the ISM services report declined.
4. Markit service sector fell to a ten-month low, coming in at 53.3.
5. ISM non-manufacturing PM came in at 56.2, vs the 58 expected.
6. Initial jobless claims came in at 294k, slightly higher than expected.
7. The labor participation rate fell to 62.7%, levels not seen since 1977.

10 Weekend Reads

by Barry Ritholtz - January 10th, 2015, 7:00am

Good Saturday morning. To cap off a fast moving week, pour yourself a strong cup of joe, and settle into your favorite chair for our longer form, weekend reads:

• The Real Story of How America Became an Economic Superpower (The Atlantic)
• Thoughts on “Teaching Economics After the Crash” (Medium)
• The War Nerd: More proof the US defense industry has nothing to do with defending America (Pando Daily)see also Americans Have Spent Enough Money On A Broken Plane To Buy Every Homeless Person A Mansion (Think Progress)
• How Lego Became the Apple of Toys (Fast Company)
• The Top-Secret Food That Will Change the Way You Eat (Outside)
• The Success Equation: An Interview with Michael Mauboussin (Start-Up Town) see also Masters in Business: Michael Mauboussin (TBP)
• Facebook is the new AOL, and other ways the 90s are back (The Verge)
• The Economics (and Nostalgia) of Dead Malls (NY Times)
• Big Mother Is Watching You: The Track-Everything Revolution Is Here Whether You Want It Or Not (Buzzfeed)
• You are a musical expert: You might not be a virtuoso, but you have remarkable music abilities. You just don’t know about them yet. (Aeon) see also Brain Damage Saved His Music: After a chunk of his brain was removed, guitarist Pat Martino got his groove back. (Nautilus)

Wall St. retreats after two-day advance; jobs data mixed

Another dramatic plunge today sending the Dow down 170 points, this time again proving (as almost always) that no one on Wall Street knows anything.  As was reported yesterday, the big rally was due to expectation from investors that the December employment numbers would be up to 240,000, a substantial jump from the   more usual averages of 200,000 in previous months.  So you'd think that today's super-positive numbers would have sent the market up again.  Not only did the December numbers come in even higher than 240 (252 to be exact) but the October and November numbers were adjusted significantly upwards to 353,000 bringing the jobless rate to a 6-1/2 year low of 5.6%.  But the market went down anyway because it was also reported that average wages had fallen by 5 cents/hour and that the low jobless rate was due at least in part to a number of jobless giving up the search and therefore no longer being counted.  (Uh, ... duh ... didn't we already know that?  And, of course, the unemployment rate will go up again once these workers decide to get back into an improving economy, which will be good news, not bad.)  Also after two days of slight increases, oil continued to decline today, once again adding to investor concerns that we haven't seen the bottom yet.  All in all, a pretty illogical reaction to a day of mostly good news; but could we really have expected differently?  At 6.3 billion shares, volume was below recent averages but closer to alignment with 2014 averages.

Wall St. jumps for second day, helped by economic optimism

Another huge rally with the Dow up a whopping 323 points, thereby recouping all recent losses and then some.  The problems with Greece continue to have unexpected positive consequences as investors eagerly await further stimulus from the European Central Bank.  The energy markets are even coming back a bit and crude is on the rise again, today up to $48.79 a barrel, not much but at least in the right direction.  Will it continue?  Have the markets seen the bottom?  Probably not, but maybe we're close.  Biotech had a second consecutive vigorous day with companies like Bind Therapeutics up a whopping 37% in a single day as they test a promising new cancer drug.  But the biggest impetus to this new surge is the expectation of a very positive labor report on Friday when new jobs from December are expected to top 240,000 vs recent encouraging averages of 200,000.  Once again, volume was strong at over 7 billion.

Wall Street ends up more than 1 percent, boosted by jobs data, Fed

Two big down days followed by one big up day as the Dow zooms 212 points on data that more jobs were added in December than expected and with the continuing assurances from the Fed that interest rate hikes will be slow in coming.  In fact, even the Greece problem took a positive spin today as investors now see it as a likely impetus for more stimulus from the ECB.  The retail sector also had a good day with several big names, including J.C. Penney, up 10-20% on strong November/December sales.  60 more retail companies are due to report in the next couple days.  The housing sector also got a boost with the government expected to announce lower FHA mortgage premiums.  Even biotech had a good day making back double what it lost  yesterday.  All in all, nothing but good news for the first time this year.  Trading was robust at 7.1 billion.

Wall Street ends down fifth session; oil prices fall further

Another rout today with the Dow falling still another 130 points, again as oil continues to plummet, today with crude losing another 4.2% and the global markets reacting with alarm, especially in anticipation and anxiety over the likelihood of Greece leaving the euro zone if their anti-EU party wins the election that is three weeks off.  Some mildly disappointing domestic reports today also point to the possibility of a slowing economy in the 4th quarter.  These added to the slide but the oil glut crisis is, of course, the primary driver of this latest pullback.  To put things in perspective, though, the same thing happened in Q3 and when the actuals belied these forecasts, the market zoomed again.  The good news is that gold, which has been on an almost continous decline for the past few years, has been climbing again in the last few weeks.  Pity those who sunk everything into gold when everyone was in a panic a few years ago -- they have all lost about a third of their investment due to their lack of faith in this historic bull market.  Volume today was quite robust at 8.3 billion shares.

Energy shares lead Wall Street to worst day since early October

The New Year has gotten off to a bang - or perhaps it's better described as an implosion - as the continuing plunge in oil prices are having an undesirable impact on the global economy, partially responsible for bringing the euro to a 9 year low and raising once again the spectre of Greece seceding from the euro zone and the accompanying chaos that would likely follow.  Today the price of crude lost another 5% dipping below $50/barrel for the first time since '09 and Wall Street responded with selloff of over 330 points.  Not that this hasn't happened before and, because fundamentals have been consistently strong, the markets have been bouncing back so far.  But if Greece goes down, that will certainly be a game change.  For the first trading day after the holidays volume was strong at over 7 billion shares.

The Year In News - 2014

Usually on Sundays I share Barry Ritholtz's "Week In Review" column showing in one simple eye-shot the "positives" and "negatives" that happened in the market, the economy, and the global situation this week.  But now for the second week in a row in the years that I've been following his web site, he has not published his weekly summary.  Instead, tonight I offer a very fascinating graphic showing how Twitter activity has defined the year's events.  Again, I am suddenly unable to insert images on this blog, so instead tonight offer a link to the article ... and hope the link works.

Tomorrow we're back to business as usual.  Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday.

The Year In News - 2014

Wall St. opens 2015 flat as data weighs

For the first trading day of 2015 (and the final trading day of the holiday season) markets were predictably slow and soft, with a little bad news from manufacturing and construction and a little good news from energy, though oil slipped another 58 cents today bringing crude down to 2009 levels.  Still, the overall impact was negligible with the Dow gaining a mere 9.92 points and the S&P slipping less than a point.  The general consensus remains that the economy continues to improve and that we will be seeing still more growth in stocks as 2015 progresses.  Holiday trading remained very light at just over 5 billion shares.  Next week, of course, we're back to normal and a whole new ball game.

Ironically, though I just started this blog yesterday, I will be gone for the weekend so, for the first time in all the months I've been sending out this summary report, there will be no report tomorrow.  Have a good weekend everyone!

Announcing “Marias Capital Management”

Sometime in 2015 I will be starting - and hopefully completing - the Executive Certified Financial Planner (CFP) program at Oakland University.  I have been fascinated by the investments field all my life and have been studying it for years.  I have already spent a number of years collecting daily market data and writing my own summary in a few lines every night.  For several months now I have been sharing this daily summary with my colleagues in the Troy finance study group I joined four years ago.  This is a very serious group and I will be accelerating my studies of their strategies this year.  So today I announce the launch of my new finance blog, “MariasCap,” which will replace my daily summary emails and provide a narrative of my journey through this new chapter of my life.  Every night I will post my usual one paragraph summary of The Day on Wall Street and, occasionally, I will have a second more extensive posting discussing some investing concept or strategy.  As an example of what the daily posting looks like, directly beneath this you'll find the daily summary for December 31, 2014.

Wall St. lower but finishes year with solid gains

Wed, 12-31-14

For my final email before launching my new blog tomorrow, the last day of 2014 saw a second consecutive day of profit taking, this time big time to the tune of 160 points.  Once again it was the energy sector that dragged everything down with oil continuing to fall, today closing down another 85 cents to end the year at $53.27 per barrel.  If memory serves correctly, I think oil was up over $80 back in June so this has been quite a precipitous decline, mostly due to oversupply and OPEC's refusal to cut production.  The overall energy index has suffered to the tune of 10% for the year, but the overall market has performed quite handsomely, the Dow up 7.5% for the year, its sixth consecutive annual gain, and the S&P even more impressive with a 2014 yield of 11.4%.  The big winner for the year was Southwest Airlines, up almost 125%, the biggest loser predictably was offshore oil driller Transocean down almost 63%.  The day's trading was on expected light volume of 5.2 billion shares.