This was written over the weekend but I am just posting it now as I was out of town:<\/p>\n
The markets took a tumble in January as the SP500 (SPY) lost 3.52%, the Dow (DIA) 5.27% and the Nasdaq (QQQ) 1.92%. In terms of individual sectors, utilities (XLU) were the star performer with a\u00a0 +2.98% gain and health care was up 0.94%. Consumer discretionary (XLY) lost 6% followed by energy (XLE) -4.80% and materials (XLB) -4.72%. Globally, Brazil (EWZ) -12.18%, China (FXI) -9.88% and Russia (RSX) -12.5% were the big losers. Frontier markets (countries like Bulgaria and Vietnam) managed a slight gain of 0.4%. Emerging markets as a whole (EEM) lost 8.63%. Commodities that were in the black included natural gas (UNG) +16.87% and gold (GLD) +3.42%. The falling markets pushed Treasuries higher as the 10-year Treasury note rate declined from 3% to 2.6%.<\/p>\n
Economic news in January with not that bad, kind of split between good and bad, but the market reacted more negatively to the bad news. Below are some of the key reports for the month:<\/p>\n
Jan 2, 2014 \u2013 jobless claims drop to a 1-month low Companies have been reporting good earnings overall, with 65.5% beating earnings estimates and 63.8% beating sales estimates.<\/p>\n The market had been on an almost non-stop winning streak and sentiment was high, so it was probably time for a pullback. Even so, the overall losses have not been that great, at least so far. The market had the chance to pullback further, especially on Friday as it gapped down at the open but it managed to hold the support established earlier in the week. That for now is the line in the sand, about 176.80 on the SPY.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This was written over the weekend but I am just posting it now as I was out of town: The markets took a tumble in January as the SP500 (SPY) lost 3.52%, the Dow (DIA) 5.27% and the Nasdaq (QQQ) … Continue reading
\nJan 6, 2014 \u2013 services in US grow at slower pace than forecast
\nJan 8, 2014 \u2013 German factory orders rise
\nJan 9, 2014 \u2013 fewest jobless claims in a month
\nJan 10, 2014 \u2013 payroll numbers miss
\nJan 14, 2014 \u2013 December gains in retail sales
\nJan 16, 2014 \u2013 Rising US sales for home builders
\nJan 17, 2014 \u2013 consumer sentiment in US falls
\nJan 23, 2014 \u2013 industrial production in the US rises for the 5th<\/sup> month
\nJan 24, 2014 \u2013 Emerging markets slide on disappointing China data and currency problems in Turkey and Argentina
\nJan 27, 2014 \u2013 Apple I-phone sales and outlook disappoint
\nJan 28, 2014 \u2013 Turkey doubles main interest rate
\nJan 30, 2014 –\u00a0 US economy grew at a 3.3% rate in Q4, matching estimates and consumer spending rose the most in 3-years, 3.3%, but that was less than estimates.<\/p>\n