What’s Going on in the Markets – March 8, 2020
On Monday, March 9, the market celebrates its 11th anniversary of this long bull market with the bull appearing quite tired, coughing and wheezing into that milestone. Yes, believe it or not, we are still in a bull market.
Despite the wild swings in the markets last week, the major indexes managed to close positive on the week for a change. Unfortunately, it was a somewhat hollow victory given that the worries over the Coronavirus have not subsided and an oil price war was started on Friday (read more below).
Volatility in the major indexes continued last week following the worst week of this bull market. Every day last week had a move of greater than +/- 2% as bullish and bearish investors fought for control.
The latest economic reports started out on solid footing with the ISM Manufacturing Index unexpectedly remaining in expansion territory. Likewise, the ISM Services Index beat expectations by rising to the best level in over a year. Mortgage rates have hit a new all-time low in a continued benefit to the housing market, with construction spending growth accelerating to the fastest pace in nearly three years. In a show of strength in the economy, the labor market remains resilient. Employers added 273,000 jobs in February, while jobless claims are near the lowest level in 50 years.
Nonetheless, from a market technical standpoint, it continues to indicate an elevated level of risk as evidenced by the recent volatility. Dismal market breadth (the number of stocks that are up versus those that are down) over the past week suggests that there will likely be a continuation of this period of high volatility. On a positive front, the short-term selling pressure has put the market into oversold territory, indicating that there should be another attempted rally in the days ahead.
The Federal Reserve (the Fed) flew into action last Tuesday, cutting interest rates by 50 basis points (0.50%) in the first emergency cut since the Financial Crisis of 2008. Despite this move from the Fed, the strength in the U.S. economic data at this time does not suggest that this is the start of a recessionary bear market. The markets are expecting a further rate cut when the Federal Open Market Committee meets on March 17-18.
As I write this on Sunday night, the futures (overnight) markets indicate a rough opening for trading on Monday, as fears of the overall economic impact of the Coronavirus continues to be priced in. In addition, a major oil price war appears to be breaking out as Russia and Saudi Arabia failed to come to an agreement on reductions in oil production, causing a plunge in the price of oil on Sunday. That will no doubt have a negative effect on stock prices this week, especially energy shares.
Regardless, it appears that the market wants to re-test the lows that we saw on February 28th. This is a normal technical progression, and hopefully, the lows will hold this week and we kick off a multi-week, if not multi-month rally.
According to the folks at Sentimentrader.com – who keep track of such statistics – “The last 10 times pessimism towards US equities was this extreme, the S&P 500 rallied 100% of the time over the next two months.” That’s a pretty solid statistic.
It is going to be hard, perhaps painfully so, to watch as your portfolio holdings get hit with selling pressure along with the broad stock market. In this environment a little bit of selling pressure can do a lot of harm – especially when there isn’t much buying pressure to balance things out.
But this is a temporary condition. Think back to Christmas Eve, 2018 – the last time the market’s proverbial rubber band was this stretched so far to the downside, stocks snapped back within just a few weeks. And, selling into the downside panic was proven to be a mistake. We were back to record highs in a matter of months. As harrowing as this sell-off has been, by almost any measure except velocity, it remains a pipsqueak through Friday compared with the battering investors took at the end of 2018. In that episode, the S&P 500 plunged almost 20%.
I can’t say for sure the market will snap back now just as it did back then. Nothing is ever guaranteed in the stock market. But it’s probably too late to sell right now if you haven’t lightened up already. If you’re too heavily invested, wait for a market rally to do so. And if your favorite fund or stock has declined enough to make it attractive, you can consider lightly “nibbling” on some here. Of course, if I’m not your advisor, then you should consult with yours, as this is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities.
If you would like to review your current investment portfolio or discuss any other financial planning matters, please don’t hesitate to contact us or visit our website at http://www.ydfs.com. We are a fee-only fiduciary financial planning firm that always puts your interests first. If you are not a client yet, an initial consultation is complimentary and there is never any pressure or hidden sales pitch. We start with a specific assessment of your personal situation. There is no rush and no cookie-cutter approach. Each client is different, and so is your financial plan and investment objectives.
