Wall Street up on cautious Fed, upbeat data

So we had a bit of a correction yesterday and we had a bit of a rally today as the minutes of the June Fed meeting revealed that, as expected, the Brexit has injected a considerable amount of uncertainty into the global economic outlook and that therefore interest rates would stay on hold for a while.  It is exactly what investors wanted to hear and shot the Dow up 78 points.  Crude also rose over 2 percent, mostly on news that the service industries had hit a 7-month high spurring more hiring and adding more fuel to the argument that Q2 was picking up.  Trading was right in line with recent averages at 7.4 billion shares.

Economic growth worries, oil slump drag Wall St. lower

It seems we've started a mild correction after last week's huge post-Brexit rally with the Dow steadily sinking all day long to settle 108 points down.  It seems that after last week's huge gains that investors are taking a breath and wondering if the "Brexit effect" really is over.  I think they can take it to the bank that it isn't and that there will be further selloffs.  So there was a little of what they call "risk-off" trading today, aggravated by an almost 5% drop in crude and a new report showing that factory orders fell in May.  But most investors are apparently still waiting it out as reflected in the below-average volume of 6.9 billion.

Succinct Summation of Week’s Events 7.1.16 (+ college bonus)

The long holiday weekend has come to an end so tomorrow it's back to business as usual and we find out whether the post-Brexit rally continues or withers.  Meanwhile, here's the convenient snapshot of the past week's events.  This time it's mostly all positives due to the flexibility U.S. markets have shown regarding the Brexit, with all the negatives being in Europe and Asia with all the fallout and chaos from the Brexit.  The holiday bonus is a stunning graphic showing that there is still quite a premium to be enjoyed by those who hold a college degree, the job market participation rate among degreed workers being much higher than those without a degree in an economy where unskilled labor is gradually becoming obsolete and unmarketable.  Hope everyone had an enjoyable Independence Day!

S&P 500 vs. VIX: Are Stocks Too Low?

Another fascinating graphic for this 4th of July holiday that shows further evidence that this market may very well be ripe for an ideal buying opportunity.  Afterwards enjoy the 22 minute TED video where mathematician Jim Simon is interviewed about how he cracked the Wall Street code.  Enjoy your 4th!

10 Weekend Reads (+ graphic ROI on college degrees)

The 4th of July of weekend has gotten off to a very pleasant start so for those of us who are sunning and funning, here is another interesting weekend reading list courtesy of our friend Barry Ritholtz.  On this list is a very interesting article about the nature of modern cultures that seem to promote the endurance of bad ideas.  But the real winner this week comes from the New Republic: "The Foreclosure Sleuth:  How a Sports Agent Uncovered the Biggest Financial Fraud in American History."  A close runner up is today's graphic, courtesy of The Economist, which shows the 20-year financial return of various college degrees.  It seems to negate the popular notion that technical degrees provide for better careers than liberal arts degrees as one can easily observe most of the dots clustering right around the 5 to 15 percent mark, meaning they all return a fairly respectable positive ROI.

Wall St. ends higher for fourth straight day

Gains for the fourth straight session even if today was only to the tune of a modest 19 points.  The triple digit rallies may be behind us but that's okay.  It was a good run and it's gotten us almost all the way back to the pre-Brexit world.  Investors now feel that either the Brexit won't be a big deal after all or, alternatively, it may not happen at all.  Two years is a long time and already, after only one week of chaos, there is already talk of another possible referendum to reverse it.  Other good news includes an expansion of June factory activity and overall positive momentum for the U.S. economy.  After a week of very brisk activity, trading was a little more subdued today with 6.7 billion shares vs a 4-week average of 7.7 billion.  Have a great Independence Day weekend!

Wall Street rallies for third day as Brexit bruises fade

Thu, 6-30-16

Day #3 of the Great Comeback from the Brexit having pushed the Dow up another big triple digit increase, today 235 points.  So what's the tally now?  Lost 870 Fri & Mon, gained 790 Tue thru Thu.  So the rout from the Brexit has been almost completely neutralized.  Not that more downside is not likely to happen.  It likely is.  But at least today optimism is still running things.  We also had good news about factory activity showing its highest levels in 1-1/2 years and the S&P finishing its third consecutive quarter in the black, all this on very strong volume of 8.7 billion.  Let's keep those good vibes coming.