bond prices did not increase in a "flight to quality"
and cryptocurrency took a dive too
I sense it's Donald trump's fault...

bond prices did not increase in a "flight to quality"
and cryptocurrency took a dive too
I sense it's Donald trump's fault...

I read the chairman of the Federal Reserve was the primary cause. 

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3393255-financial-stocks-lose-ground-fed-chairs-press-conference

I read the chairman of the Federal Reserve was the primary cause. 

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3393255-financial-stocks-lose-ground-fed-chairs-press-conference

So had he giving the notice tomorrow morning, stocks would have dropped tomorrow instead?

So had he giving the notice tomorrow morning, stocks would have dropped tomorrow instead?

Hypothetically, yes.  Investors hate the unknown.  They sell now, and buy back later if the unknown turns out positive.  In the meantime, they also make money when the price falls below where they sold, because on average, prices tend to recover to the point they were at relatively quickly.  Smart investors make money when stock go up AND down.  Long term investors ride the wave, which slows their potential profits.

Had a nice run up today. Up over 1%.

People get excited when the market drops $500 or more in one day. Percentage wise the market moved only a small amount. In the last 2 days it dropped somewhere around 1,300 points. Approximately 5%.

This market has been volatile since we hit 20,000. I keep hearing a lot of individual investors are waiting this market out. They feel that the market has never had a run up last more than 7 or 8 years. And we are on our 10th year now without a major hit.

Had a nice run up today. Up over 1%.

People get excited when the market drops $500 or more in one day. Percentage wise the market moved only a small amount. In the last 2 days it dropped somewhere around 1,300 points. Approximately 5%.

This market has been volatile since we hit 20,000. I keep hearing a lot of individual investors are waiting this market out. They feel that the market has never had a run up last more than 7 or 8 years. And we are on our 10th year now without a major hit.

Also, there are times of the year when people need to take money out of the market.  With the drop this week, there were likely thousands jumping out to protect their profits and avoid losses.  That reaction precipitates even more downturn.  Once the downturn bottoms out, stocks will again rise as the money taken out gets reinvested.

Many good investors put a stop-loss order in on their account.  If the price of that stock drops to that order's price, it automatically sells to avoid further loss.  If instead the prices keep going up, they cancel old stop-loss orders and create new ones with adjusted sell prices.

Interesting to note the Dow had an almost 800 point swing on Friday. It dropped almost 500 points immediately then closed up almost 300 points. Volatility is pretty normal these days. Some experts on this morning’s financial news were thinking this may be the bottom and we may have another run up. I obviously cannot predict what is going to happen and neither can the experts. We’ll just have to wait and see. It is this volatility that is part of the reason I stay out of the market. The other part is I am now nearing retirement and don’t feel the volatility risks are worth it. Though it was the Clinton/Bush era economic decisions that made me start pulling money out of the market and invest in other avenues. And then the Obama era economic decisions kept me out of the market though I admit in hindsight that was a mistake. If I was younger and not so close to retirement I might be back in the market.

Anyway, my comments are that a flight to safety would probably only occur if the economy were not as strong as it currently is. I think investors just took some profit and if the bottom was reached as stated earlier we’ll see that money coming back in.

All of this is just my humble opinion.

The market is having quite the run up this morning. It is up almost 1.5% as I write this and is currently above the 200 day moving average for the first time in a week or so. The market is not being spooked by the trade war with China. Nor is it being spooked by the threats of cutting off ties with Saudi Arabia. It seems that basics are at play here. In other words strong earnings reports are driving stock prices up. Our economy is humming along quite well right now. It also seems we had another strong employment report that job creation is outpacing the number of available workers for the 6th straight month.

Obviously, we don’t know what is going to happen in the future. Let’s hope that this up economy continues, taxes stay low so we can all benefit.