Stock Market Fourth Loss in Five Sessions

By: PhilStockWorld

Courtesy of Doug Short: Before the market opened, we were treated to the ADP report claiming a better-than-expected 238K nonfarm private jobs growth in December. Would this be another “good news is bad news” number for the market? Indeed the S&P 500 sold off to its -0.35% intraday low in the first 20 minutes of trading. But it then reconsidered and rallied to its 0.12% intraday high 45 minutes later. In yesterday’s snapshot I speculated that the Fed minutes were unlikely to hold any major surprises since the initial taper plans had already been announced. The inevitable knee-jerk reaction at 2PM was short-lived. The moderate selling over the next 90 minutes reversed in the final 30. At the closing bell, the index posted its fourth loss in the first five sessions of 2014, but it was a mere -0.02%.

Tomorrow’s jobless claims will be of interest, but big economic news of the week will be Friday’s jobs report.

According to the U.S. Treasury, the yield on the 10-year note closed at 3.01%, up 5 bps from Friday and only 3 bps below its interim high at the end of 2013.

Here is a 15-minute look at the first five days of 2014.

Volume increased during today’s battle between the buyers and sellers, now 17% above its 50-day moving average and the highest since before the holidays.

The S&P 500 is now down 0.59% for 2014.

Here is a longer perspective, starting with the all-time high prior to the Great Recession.

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

www.philstockworld.com

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)

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