(Friday Market Close) Stocks rounded out the week in true October fashion, pulling back from intraday highs as market volatility continued and Wall Street’s fear gauge, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX), remained around 20, an elevated level well above September’s figures.
What makes a bull or a bear market? Sure, there are classic definitions of bulls, bears and corrections, but some veteran traders would say that, in a bull market, every dip becomes a buying opportunity. In a bear market, it seems the market can never hold a rally.
This week’s market action, and Friday’s in particular, gave both bulls and bears some fodder. On the one hand, after getting off to a rousing start, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) gave up the day’s gains, even turning negative by the end of the session, leaving it little changed from Thursday’s big selloff. On the other hand, it had essentially held its ground, closing right at its 200-day moving average, a baseline which has held throughout the rally over the last six months (see figure 1 below). Next week is shaping up to be interesting.
Early support on Friday came
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This turbulent week marches toward a close with the pendulum swinging back into green again, at least for now. Continued volatility wouldn’t be surprising, especially with a heavy set of info tech earnings on the way next week.
The market got knocked back down in a big way Thursday, upending most of the week’s early gains. Growing concerns about earnings and geopolitics seem to be raising investor worry.
As Wall Street continues to mull the latest minutes from the Federal Reserve, it seems that worries are continuing about higher interest rates potentially clipping the wings of a high-flying stock market.
After Tuesday’s big rally and strong results from Netflix, it looks like the market might pull back under some profit-taking pressure early Wednesday. Volatility remains a possible factor.
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