Brief Update About Mood of the Financial Markets
Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Aug 9, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments
Today saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average close up 429.92 points, or up 3.98%. Meanwhile the broader stock index, the S&P 500, closed up 53.07 points, or 4.74%. Given this surge, let me provide a brief update about the “mood of the market.”
While there was clearly a reversal of fortune today, it’s still my feeling that there are many investors that feel queasy; investors that are waiting for the next precipitous fall. That said, it feels like a large majority of folks who were queasy are either exhausted, or elated. Frankly, I prefer the exhausted variety of investor to the elated and potentially dopey investor.
Before I make some sort of call as to a market low being reached I want to feel a sense of confidence in buyers, as opposed to elation. I also want to feel that those who were queasy have taken their investment expectations and monies elsewhere.
Meanwhile, it was reported today that productivity in the U.S. dropped 0.3% in the second quarter – this is not a good sign. So there are structural economic issues to consider well beyond the fortunes of U.S. and European government debt.
Jason
