Wall Street down after weak jobs, Fed comments, Syria airstrikes

The closing numbers appear to be flat but nothing could be further from the truth.  ‘Twas another wild day with the Dow first diving 60 then shooting up 120 before closing 7 points down, still another indicator of investor anxiety as they try to figure out Trump’s ability to proceed.  There is much confusion including the Syrian air strike, an employment number that came in more than 80,000 below forecast and the Fed trying to spruce up its balance sheet.  The market will be watching to see if Syria will help or hurt the President’s progress on his programs so, for today anyway, there is less action rather than more  as volume remains low at under 6 billion.  And can someone explain how Wednesday’s report showed 263,000 new jobs while today’s was only 98,000?

Wall Street posts slight gain, investors anxious on Trump-Xi meet

Another tumultuous day as the Dow zoomed up a hundred points before again falling late in the session to a mere plus 14.  The swing represents more uncertainty as big bets are placed on a successful meeting between Trump and China’s president but these bets are not accompanied by much confidence.  The meeting will be seen as a litmus test for things to come, especially in light of our need for China’s help in dealing with North Korea.  What is obviously not factored into today’s numbers is this evening’s attack on Syria which will very likely trigger a strong market reaction tomorrow, that and how well today’s meeting went.  Volume remains below average at 6.4 billion.  It’s a good bet that Friday’s story will be quite different.

Wall Street falls as Fed minutes reverse earlier rally

The wild swings continue with the Dow soaring 200 points right out the gate, then crashing down 250 in the afternoon to close down 41.  The supercharged a.m. rally came on the heels of a sparkling jobs report that added a whopping 71,000 more jobs than expected and a Fed report that had the economy doing a soft shoe.  The p.m. crash came as investors considered that the great a.m. news might mean (a) a bubble is coming and/or (b) more rate hikes might be coming.  One person’s art is another’s pornography.  Or is the market just schizophrenic?  For once, volume was above average at 7.6 billion.

Wall St. flat as investors await China meeting, earnings season

Down 50, then up a hundred to finally close 40 points up, the Dow’s performance today was yet another affirmation of the difficulty investors are experiencing trying to figure out Trump and whether he has the ability to deliver.  All eyes are on Q1 since Trump’s promised tax cuts have already been priced in to earnings.  If they don’t materialize, the markets will have even more reason to conclude that stocks are overvalued and continue to step back.  As today’s expert said, “The elephant in the room is Washington.  Right now it’s all about politics.”  Volume remains below average at 6.2 billion.

Wall Street down on weak auto sales, doubts about Trump agenda

Investor uncertainty with regards to the effectiveness of the Trump administration continues as a string of bad news this morning crashed the Dow down nearly 200 points.  This included poor results from the auto companies, U.S. states challenging Trump’s energy standards, the effort to filibuster the Gorsuch nomination, the terrorist attack in St. Petersburg, and today still another problem coming from North Korea.  But today was also a continuing affirmation of this market’s resilience as it all came back to almost even being just 13 points down at close.  Investors have been given little reasons everyday to step back, and stepping back a little bit is what they’ve been doing, the new sentiment being anxiety over Trump’s promises and a possible need to discount some benefits that may never happen.  Volume was about average at 6.8 billion.

Succinct Summation of Week’s Events 3.31.17 (plus Random Walk Theory)

It's been quite a week again and the succinct summation is supplied below.  This week also our friend Burton Malkiel, Princeton professor and author of the classic "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" is back in the media this time as Barry Ritholtz's guest on the "Masters In Business" podcast with a 90 minute discussion on the state of everything.  This 90 minute recording is probably the equivalent of taking his class at Princeton so it's a good investment in time.  I read the book back in grad school and it is excellent.

Examining How Rumors Spread Through Social Media During Crisis Events

Not intended as an April Fool's joke.  Not an April Fool's joke: