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Tag Archives: Dow

May 25, 2021

Something New with Something Old: DIY DJIA®

The growth of index funds has, in the main, helped to lower the costs and improve the performance of the average investor’s portfolio. Now, some are seeking to improve upon even the relatively low costs of conventional index funds via so-called “direct indexing”, by which investors purchase securities to match an index themselves, disintermediating the…

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May 24, 2021

How Now The Dow?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average® (DJIA) will celebrate its quasquicentennial on Wednesday, which marks exactly 125 years since the index’s first publication. Before one of the world’s most watched and widely cited benchmarks hits this milestone, here is an overview of “The Dow®,” including its origins, what has stayed the same over the years, and…

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Mar 20, 2020

29 Days Later

On February 19th, the S&P 500® closed at an all-time high of 3386; last night, exactly one month later it closed at 2409, a 29% decline from the high.  Let’s take a moment to reflect on what’s happened over the last month. We should first start by putting the decline into historical context. The peak-to-trough…

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Mar 19, 2020

With VIX Above 80, Expect 5% Daily Swings in the S&P 500

Volatility – it is sometimes said – takes the elevator up but takes the stairs down.  Like seismic activity, volatility can rise precipitously, but tends to decay more slowly; aftershocks and tremors continue to roil markets after any major repricing occurs.  The practical consequence is that, once the markets become volatile, they tend to remain…

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Feb 1, 2019

As goes January, so … what?

“The more you look at ‘common knowledge’, the more you realise that it is more likely to be common than it is to be knowledge” – Idries Shah, Reflections Statements such as “sell in May and go away” can become accepted wisdom without always facing proper scrutiny.  Another aphorism, particularly timely at the present moment, is…

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Jan 5, 2018

Are you celebrating 101010101010?

News that the Dow broke through 25,000 yesterday was not universally celebrated.  A market index achieved a specific numerical barrier — so what?  The importance of such events is at best anecdotal, and their celebration in the media is increasingly regarded as humbug.  Is there any truth – one might ask – to the theory…

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Jan 11, 2017

The Red Zone

In grid-iron football, The Red Zone refers to the area between the 25 yard line and the goal line, the last remaining ground the offense must battle through in order to score a touchdown.  This is a somewhat apt metaphor for what we’re currently witnessing with the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Unless you’ve been living…

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Jan 6, 2017

Dow Jones Industrial Average® 2016 Year in Review

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 2016 at 19,762.60 – up 2.337.57 points for a 13.42% annual return, the best year since 2013 when the market surged over 26%. Biggest Themes – markets were driven by the crash (and partial recovery) in oil prices, Fed-watching, China, Brexit and questions regarding the US economy. Oh yeah,…

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Oct 1, 2015

Dow Jones Industrial Average Q3 2015 Performance Report Card

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended September at 16,284.70 – down 1,538.37 points year to date for a -8.63% return. Q3 2015 was the worst calendar quarter since Q3 2011. Leader & Laggard – Nike (NKE) was the biggest contributor during Q3; Goldman Sachs (GS) was the biggest detractor. Industry Performance – the Consumer Goods…

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Sep 10, 2014

Market Myopia

As investors, we necessarily rely on history.  How we analyse that history is particular to each investor – some will look for technical patterns, some at fundamental data, still others will build quantitative models.  But all of us need data, and history is our only source. We may have to rely on history; we don’t…

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