Posts by Mike Verity

Stocks opened sharply lower this morning, reversing yesterday’s gains. As of 1pm EST the Dow was down over 700 points, but then began to climb, finally closing down 279 points. In the wake of Silicon Valley Bank’s failure—and ugly news from European bank Credit Suisse—traders are trying to discount emerging risks to the banking system.…

Major stock market indexes opened higher this morning despite stubborn inflation data. Currently, the Dow is up 155 points and the S&P 500 is up 1.1%. The VIX fear gauge, which briefly spiked to 26.5 as Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) failed, is back down to 24.5. We’ve seen huge volatility this week, and we’re only…

Stocks are down .5% – 1% and bonds are up .5% – 3% this morning after the first FDIC-insured bank failure since the Great Financial Crisis (see below). February’s Employment Situation report yet again confirmed strength in the job market. A much higher than expected 311,000 new jobs were created during the month. Wage growth…

Stock & bond markets opened mixed this morning following yesterday’s rout. Currently, the Dow is down 130 points, the S&P 500 is flat and the Nasdaq is up .2%. On the bond side, long-term Treasuries are up about .5% whereas corporates are flat to down. This morning brought more evidence that the job market remains…

US stocks dipped at the open this morning, but quickly turned around. Currently, the Dow is down 82 points but the S&P 500 is up .3% and the Nasdaq is up .5%. Bonds, however, are trading modestly lower in price as yields float up alongside interest rates. Investors are re-pricing Fed risk, which one can…

Stocks, bonds, and most commodities sank today in reaction to a slew of economic reports (see below). The bottom line is that good news is bad news where it concerns the Federal Reserve. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if markets rebound by session’s end, as happened yesterday. Recent data suggest the economy heated up last…

Stocks gapped up at the open today, but then quickly fell back. The Dow is currently down 180 points and the S&P 500 is down .3%. The reversal seems to be due to a couple of reports on the economy (see below). Commodities are mixed in early trading. Copper is down 3% this morning, primarily…

The US stock market is listless today, meandering without direction on little news. The dollar is a bit stronger, putting pressure on commodities. WTI crude oil is down about 2.5% to trade at $74.50/barrel. Copper is down 1.5%, reversing some of its year-to-date rally. Gold is little changed today (and this year). The bond market,…