10.31.08

10.31.08b

            You know it’s been a tough year when the “Oracle of Omaha”, the greatest investor of our time, Warren Buffett is down 18.4% year-to-date. It’s been a ‘take no prisoners’ type of market this year.

 Friday: The Volatility didn't go away. The Dow worked its way higher all day, and was up 275 points late in the day, gave back almost all of it’s upside, and then rallied in the final minutes to close up 144 points for the day. Traders are willing to hold positions over a weekend for a change! That’s a good sign.  

Last Week: Last week was one of the biggest weekly up-weeks in a long time. Not as big as some of the down-weeks of September and October, but an impressive week. Just one week ago the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq closed at new bear market lows.

  In spite of the big double-digit gain this week,-day, the Dow was down 14% for the month, the worst October since 1989.

October had the most down days in a month since 1973.

It was the most volatile month since 1929.

In one 8-day period early in the month the Dow lost 2,396 points.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index lost 30% for the month.

Gold lost 18%, its biggest one-month decline since 1983.

What's next?

          Next week we'll see another very heavy schedule of potential market-moving economic reports. On Wednesday there is a G-20 meeting which has the ability to move the market as well as the election results also on Wednesday.

Till next time

The MTA Staff