Tech lifts S&P 500, Nasdaq; indexes post gains for quarter

Investors switched back to tech today and the Nasdaq was saved by the bell. As of yesterday, it was slated for its first loss since November but instead, with a 201 point gain today, it just barely squeezed into the black by 0.4% for the month.  With the steady rotation from tech to cyclical, the Dow and S&P did much better 7% and 4% monthly gains respectively.  For Q1, the gains were 8 and 6 with the Nasdaq also gaining 3 percent. With the day’s boost towards tech, the Dow lost 85 on the session. Econ data shows hiring was boosted in March on the strength of more people getting vaccines.  Volume remains considerably below average at 11.4 billion. 

Wall Street dips, with technology the biggest drag

It was another wild swinging day with all three indexes losing ground with the 10-Year note hitting a 14 month high and the rotation from tech to value continuing. Nasdaq will have its first monthly loss since November with investors flopping back and forth between tech and cyclical but with cyclical winning on optimism over a recovering economy.  Today, value was up 0.1% while growth dove 0.6 percent. Value will likely continue to rule for a few days during quarter-end reallocations. Volume remains well below the 4-week average at 10.3 billion. 

S&P 500 ends a hair lower; hedge fund default concerns hit banks

It was another seesaw day with the indexes, especially the Nasdaq, deeply in the red in the morning on concerns from hedge fund defaults, then rising again almost as sharply in the black in the afternoon, then losing about half of these gains in the final half hour.  The Dow did close 98 points in the black but both the Nasdaq and S&P closed down. Optimism over the economy is what’s credited for stemming the declines. Volume remains considerably below average at 11 billion. 

Succinct Summation of Week’s Events 3.26.21 (plus Sources of Greenhouse Gases)

Below is the usual weekly summation, the main positive, as before, being 1/2 billion vaccinations globally and 137 million in the U.S.  Conversely too, as before, the main negative is the rising infection rate and new spikes in serious illness and deaths due to complacency. The bonus this Sunday is a very startling graphic showing two different studies in which the data points to agricultural production as the main source of greenhouse gases. This certainly deserves some study as conventional wisdom has always held that industrial production is the main source.  Which is true? Hope everyone had a great weekend.  

Vital Stimulus

As I've had the tendency to do lately on the Saturday posts, tonight I submit once again for your weekend viewing pleasure this week's segment of the PBS program WealthTrack. This one is quite timely as it deals with a once fringe school of economic thought called Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) which has in recent decades become mainstream, and how the latest unprecedented round of stimulus is impacted by this theory. Consuelo Mack interviews one of the leading experts on MMT, Paul McCulley, a Georgetown business school professor.  Enjoy.  And enjoy your weekend.  

Wall Street rallies on strong recovery hopes

We have yet another day when everyone’s hot on both growth and value as both the tech Nasdaq and the cyclical Dow had big rallies, once again on strong optimism for a recovery. But much of the surge happened in just the last fifteen minutes, almost 200 points of it that is. This may have been triggered by the latest Fed announcement raising GDP projections for 2021 from a relatively positive 4.2% growth to a hugely positive 6.5% growth. The biggest kicker is that many economists are on the record today that even the 6.5% forecast may be entirely too conservative.  This has changed the landscape again making all stocks, both tech and value, equally attractive to investors.  The biggest concern today is that the super good news on the growth forecasts has the markets a little frightened that the Fed, though firmly committed to keeping interest rates low, may be forced to change its mind and stoke inflation.  Volume remains below average at 12.2 billion. 

Stocks rebound in late-day rally on Wall Street

Lordy, what a tumultuous day with the Dow diving about 500 points by 10 a.m. before starting a huge rally that lasted the rest of the session pushing the index up 700 points to close up 199.  The seesaw, which has been quite prominent lately, is the continuing rise and fall as investors rotate away from growth and toward value, with growth being feared as over-valued and maybe on its way out as the economy recovers and value being seen as equally under-valued and ripe for the picking. This unique reverse correlation between the Dow and the Nasdaq is expected to continue for some time and optimism is reflected in the CBOE “fear” index falling below 20.  Volume remains below average but catching up, today at 12.7 billion.