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August Linkfest
Wow -- another roller coaster of a week. The Dow only lost 0.6%, but that belies the topsy turvey week we just had. Credit woes frightened even the most ardent of Bulls -- and just in time for the Fed meeting next week. Indeed, the numbers don't reveal the full story: Gold popped 1.9% on credit concerns, and an ever weakening dollar slipped further (-0.5%). After hitting a new 52 week high over $78, Crude oil closed down on the week by 2%. Fears of a closing credit window sent all manner of bonds higher, from Junk (1.0%) to Treasury (0.5%) to Emerging Markets (1.5%). Even REITs bounced a hair (0.1%). On the equity side, European stocks slipped 0.2%, and emerging market stocks fell half a percentage point. The Sp500 gave up 1.8%, and the Nasdaq lost 2%. Once again, the Russell 2000 small caps were the biggest losers, sliding nearly 3%. For the year-to-date, the Dow remains up 5.8%, while the SP500 is clinging to a 1% gain. The Russell 2000 has declined 4.1% year-to-date. Barron's Trader column quoted Doug Cliggott, chief investment officer of Dover Management, who observed: We're seeing a simple but extremely powerful deleveraging of the...
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Big Picture
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August Linkfest
Wow -- another roller coaster of a week. The Dow only lost 0.6%, but that belies the topsy turvey week we just had. Credit woes frightened even the most ardent of Bulls -- and just in time for the Fed meeting next week. Indeed, the numbers don't reveal the full story: Gold popped 1.9% on credit concerns, and an ever weakening dollar slipped further (-0.5%). After hitting a new 52 week high over $78, Crude oil closed down on the week by 2%. Fears of a closing credit window sent all manner of bonds higher, from Junk (1.0%) to Treasury (0.5%) to Emerging Markets (1.5%). Even REITs bounced a hair (0.1%). On the equity side, European stocks slipped 0.2%, and emerging market stocks fell half a percentage point. The Sp500 gave up 1.8%, and the Nasdaq lost 2%. Once again, the Russell 2000 small caps were the biggest losers, sliding nearly 3%. For the year-to-date, the Dow remains up 5.8%, while the SP500 is clinging to a 1% gain. The Russell 2000 has declined 4.1% year-to-date. Barron's Trader column quoted Doug Cliggott, chief investment officer of Dover Management, who observed: We're seeing a simple but extremely powerful deleveraging of the...
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The Big Picture
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