Posts by Gary Hall

Friday shaped up to be a doozy of a session on Wall Street, capping what has been a stomach-churning ride in markets over the past few weeks. The U.S. stock market’s Friday action seems particularly frenetic, and experts say that investors can attribute at least a part of the session’s moves to one novel factor: quadruple witching. Stocks slide, red volume higher since May, safe-havens gain as Omicron worries weigh.

Wall Street markets fell sharply at the opening bell as the tech rout continued for another session extending the selloff and deepening during the final minutes. The DOW opened down and proceeded to form a triangle, with the pinnacle breaking downward at 2:30. Wall Street’s Dow Indrustrial’s finally closed down, sending investors wondering what will happen on Monday. The DOW’s 462-point fall was led by losses for Goldman Sachs, Home Depot shares. Only the Russel 2000 showed any promise of keeping a Santa Clause rally alive by closing up 1.0%. Helping keep the SC rally alive was NASDAQ only closing down 0.07%

Oil prices suffer a weekly loss as the omicron variant continues to spread – Oil prices settle lower at 70.41 for the session and week, but oil rigs increased by three despite Omicron’s uncertainty.

Despite America’s epic consumer boom, containerized imports to the Port of Los Angeles dropped to 403,569 twenty-foot equivalent units in November, down 14% from October and down 13.2% year on year.

Investors Note: Twenty-five chemical stocks have fallen from multi-bagger zone to bear territory. Time to buy or sell?

The SP 500 sets a new record on opening, sucking in many Happy Feet, then falling sharply towards the session close. Dow follows NASDAQ into the red, closing down 30 points with the NASDAQ water falling then accelerating with about an hour left to the finishing down 2.6%.

US tech stocks slide after central bank policy shifts indicating the Fed still has a lot of questions to answer about its long-term strategy. Selling intensified following global Central Bank decisions earlier.

The COVID surge is gripping New York City ahead of the holidays in other news. New York City’s test positivity rate doubled in just three days, Dr. Jay Varma, a top health advisor to Mayor Bill de Blasio, tweeted Thursday, ‘We have never seen anything like this before.

How bad is inflation? Even millionaires are worried about it. For the wealthy and affluent, inflation brings the threat of higher interest rates, which increases the cost of borrowing and can put pressure on asset values. Read more below.

Today’s session doesn’t look like a bear market is forming as some analysts were predicting yesterday, just the opposite. The BTFDers were out in full force, snatching up bargains as U.S. stocks jump on Fed decision to accelerate taper, pushing the DOW up 383 points to close with a bang. NASDAQ closed up 2.2%, and the $SPX closed up 1.5%.

Today, the Fed said that it would aggressively dial back its bond-buying and sees three rate hikes next year. Ray Dalio warns the Fed’s hands are tied and that higher U.S. inflation is sticking around. Ex-Treasury Chief Summers stated: ‘Rate Hikes Will Put Economy, Markets at Risk.’

WTI crude settled slightly higher at 71.2, and the USD remains elevated at 96.45, gold shot up higher to 1780 and silver at 22.09. Bitcoin rose fractionally to 49300, and Dogecoin remained in the same area as yesterday at 0.1835. Market volume was green and ‘normal.’

Wall Street lost ground today for fears Omicron is spreading faster than any other Covid variant. The hotter-than-expected wholesale inflation reading is also placing downward pressure on the financial markets as Fed kicks off the meeting. The DOW closed down 107 points, NASDAQ down 1.1%, WTI crude settled down to 70.36, USD rose to 96.57.

A near-term pullback, then the third bubble in 100 years is coming, says a team at Stifel, led by Barry Bannister. After the “worst inflation call in history” and its credibility shattered, Chair Jerome Powell will need to take the reins hard, says Allianz’s chief adviser Mohamed El-Erian.

US stocks drop after report shows a sharp rise in producer prices, and the US dollar rises as central bank decisions looms. The Federal Reserve is expected to take a very big step toward its first rate hike.

Markets closed down in fear of a Fed survey showing soaring inflation expectations and Omicron growing cases of infection. The UK confirms the first death with the omicron Covid variant and prepares for a tidal wave of cases. The upcoming Fed meeting also added to investors’ fears.

The DOW slipped from its session highs to close down 320 points, NASDAQ down 1.4%, and the $SPX down 0.9%. The late afternoon fall stopped at the support built during the last four sessions – BUT will that support hold?

One strategist says, ‘Expect a near-term stock pullback, then a big new bubble.’ Gold remains in the 1788 range today, WTI crude is higher at 71.34, and Bitcoin falls to 46500.

Wall Street closed up with the SP 500 closing pinnies below its high record mark, but record close despite inflation fears, posts best week since February. DOW closed up 216 points and NASDAQ up 45 points.

Stock-market ‘crash and depression coming’ warns ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ author Kiyosaki, as inflation report hottest in 39 years. The most sizzling U.S. inflation rate in almost 40 years brings a sigh of relief in some corners of financial markets.

The DOW was down insignificantly whilst the S&P 500 posted a loss of -0.72% and NASDAQ off 1.71%. Gold was off marginally at $1,776, WTI oil down to $70.61, and Bitcoin fell to $48,283.

Although today’s jobless claims data released today were at the lowest levels since 1969, inflation fears and the potential contagion from the default of China’s Evergrande (who has $300 billion in debt).

Markets closed up, barely. DOW up 35 points, NASDAQ up 100 points, and $SPX up 0.3%. Very slow session in terms of points spread. SP 500 climbed within rock-throwing distance of its record high, continuing its upward movement. WTI inched higher, settling at 72.70. Gold and silver tracked each other, with gold at 1782 and silver slipping to 22.40.

Bitcoin was relatively stable for the second day at 50600.

Wall Street closed up 492 points after a relatively stable session of sideways trading near its previous record high. Tech stocks lead the markets higher for a second day, and Nasdaq notches its best day since March, closing up 3 points. WTI crude continued its advance settling at 71.51. Gold remained at the 1785 range, and silver traded mostly sideways around the 22.50 range.

The DOW made a 200 point upwards gap at the opening and remained near its session highs for the day. The US dollar remains above 96.36 while the crypto Bitcoin slipped to 50400.

Major U.S. and International markets closed up today recovering somewhat from last week’s train wreck. The DOW closed up 1.87%, NASDAQ up 0.93% and the S&P up 1.17%. The markets continue to show volatility based on the uncertainty over the potential impact of the COVID Omicron variant which the weekend’s headlines show it likely will not cause severe illness. Oil prices were 4.9% higher at $69.49 per barrel. Gold stands at $1,788. Bitcoin closed up at $50,474.