Doug Short writes: The S&P 500 popped at the open and hit its intraday high, up 0.53%, in the first two minutes of trading. The rest of the day was a slide, with occasional bumps to a closing loss of 0.47%. The opening selloff accelerated at 10 AM with the release of the November ISM Manufacturing report, which registered a 2.2 percent drop into contraction territory for the headline index. Of course, the financial press mentions the ongoing “Cliff” anxieties, which were brought to the forefront by a GOP letter to the White House rejecting the president’s Cliff fix and countering with a no-tax-increase rejoinder.

Here is a five-minute look at today’s action.

The S&P 500 is now up 12.08% for 2012 but 3.84% below the interim closing high of September 14th.

From a longer-term perspective, the index is 108.3% above the March 2009 closing low and 9.9% below the nominal all-time high of October 2007.

For a better sense of how these declines figure into a larger historical context, here’s a long-term view of secular bull and bear markets in the S&P Composite since 1871.

- Phil

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Philip R. Davis is a founder of Phil's Stock World (www.philstockworld.com), a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders. Mr. Davis is a serial entrepreneur, having founded software company Accu-Title, a real estate title insurance software solution, and is also the President of the Delphi Consulting Corp., an M&A consulting firm that helps large and small companies obtain funding and close deals. He was also the founder of Accu-Search, a property data corporation that was sold to DataTrace in 2004 and Personality Plus, a precursor to eHarmony.com. Phil was a former editor of a UMass/Amherst humor magazine and it shows in his writing -- which is filled with colorful commentary along with very specific ideas on stock option purchases (Phil rarely holds actual stocks). Visit: Phil's Stock World (www.philstockworld.com)

© 2012 Copyright PhilStockWorld - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

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