Before The Bell
The month of August concludes today, and for Wall Street, it has been a rewarding 31 days, as ill trade winds across the globe, in particular with China, and worrisome investigations involving the White House have not been sufficient to derail this historic bull market. In fact, the leading averages have all progressed during this span. A summer rally of some magnitude has evolved on the strength of strong economic and earnings tailwinds. These gains, in fact, have lifted the S&P 500 Index and the NASDAQ to all-time highs above 2,900 and 8,100 respectively.
Meantime, the bulls had difficulty getting on top of things at the open yesterday morning, as red arrows were featured prominently on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 Index, and the NASDAQ. Unlike some past sessions, however, the market did not come back very quickly, as the losses persisted through the first hour of trading. Still, the deficits were not sizable. Meantime, one stock that did buck the trend was Amazon.com (AMZN), which hit the $2,000 mark for the first time ever yesterday. Amazon is now the second issue with a trillion dollar market capitalization, behind only tech icon Apple Inc. (AAPL – Free Apple Stock Report).
The losses then deepened as the morning wore on, with the Dow at one point falling to a loss of more than 120 points, holding barely above 26,000. The S&P 500 and the smaller-cap indexes also pulled back somewhat, although the NASDAQ, on strength in Amazon and the aforementioned Apple, which climbed above $228 a share for the first time ever, headed back into the plus column as we entered the afternoon. For the most part, however, weakness in some multinationals kept the Dow some 75-100 points under water as we transitioned into the first part of the afternoon.
The big news, as the month concluded, was still trade. Here, Mexico and the United States announced a bilateral trade deal earlier in the week. Now, an agreement with Canada was being worked on. Trade worries have been about the lone discordant note for Wall Street in recent weeks, especially with China, with the good news on the economy and earnings more than offsetting. Still and all, this has been a good stretch for the stock market on our shores, although it has been a less upbeat span for markets in Asia and Europe. There also might have been some nervousness as we approached the often difficult month of September.
The market then tried to make progress as the afternoon moved along, and was making incremental strides as we moved inside the final two hours of trading, especially in the Dow, which recouped more than half of its morning-worst losses. The Russell 2000 also made headway, moving nicely back into the plus column along the way. Losing groups, meantime, held a formidable advantage on gaining sectors, with basic materials and telecom doing the worst at that time. Also declining stocks held a nine-to-seven lead on gaining issues on the Big Board. Still, that represented a narrowing of the gap from the morning.
But that comeback did not continue. In fact, the market soon fell through session lows, with the Dow tumbling by some 190 points late in the day, and the NASDAQ going negative as well, along with the smaller composites. The apparent cause of this late selloff was the report that the President was backing $200 billion in tariffs on China. Trade sensitive issues faltered on this news. That report more than offset the expected good news on trade involving Canada. True, there was a late paring of the worst losses, but at the close, the Dow was still off 138 points, while losing stocks held a solid lead on gaining issues on the NYSE.
Now, a new day begins as August ends. Looking out at Asia in the overnight hours, we see that the major indexes were lower in trading; while in Europe, the bourses are trending down, as well. In other markets, oil prices are off; Treasury note yields, off yesterday, are now backtracking anew on global trade concerns; and the equity futures on our shores are suggesting a softer open when trading resumes. Meanwhile, we would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our loyal readers an enjoyable and, most important, safe Labor Day Weekend.
Meantime, the bulls had difficulty getting on top of things at the open yesterday morning, as red arrows were featured prominently on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 Index, and the NASDAQ. Unlike some past sessions, however, the market did not come back very quickly, as the losses persisted through the first hour of trading. Still, the deficits were not sizable. Meantime, one stock that did buck the trend was Amazon.com (AMZN), which hit the $2,000 mark for the first time ever yesterday. Amazon is now the second issue with a trillion dollar market capitalization, behind only tech icon Apple Inc. (AAPL – Free Apple Stock Report).
The losses then deepened as the morning wore on, with the Dow at one point falling to a loss of more than 120 points, holding barely above 26,000. The S&P 500 and the smaller-cap indexes also pulled back somewhat, although the NASDAQ, on strength in Amazon and the aforementioned Apple, which climbed above $228 a share for the first time ever, headed back into the plus column as we entered the afternoon. For the most part, however, weakness in some multinationals kept the Dow some 75-100 points under water as we transitioned into the first part of the afternoon.
The big news, as the month concluded, was still trade. Here, Mexico and the United States announced a bilateral trade deal earlier in the week. Now, an agreement with Canada was being worked on. Trade worries have been about the lone discordant note for Wall Street in recent weeks, especially with China, with the good news on the economy and earnings more than offsetting. Still and all, this has been a good stretch for the stock market on our shores, although it has been a less upbeat span for markets in Asia and Europe. There also might have been some nervousness as we approached the often difficult month of September.
The market then tried to make progress as the afternoon moved along, and was making incremental strides as we moved inside the final two hours of trading, especially in the Dow, which recouped more than half of its morning-worst losses. The Russell 2000 also made headway, moving nicely back into the plus column along the way. Losing groups, meantime, held a formidable advantage on gaining sectors, with basic materials and telecom doing the worst at that time. Also declining stocks held a nine-to-seven lead on gaining issues on the Big Board. Still, that represented a narrowing of the gap from the morning.
But that comeback did not continue. In fact, the market soon fell through session lows, with the Dow tumbling by some 190 points late in the day, and the NASDAQ going negative as well, along with the smaller composites. The apparent cause of this late selloff was the report that the President was backing $200 billion in tariffs on China. Trade sensitive issues faltered on this news. That report more than offset the expected good news on trade involving Canada. True, there was a late paring of the worst losses, but at the close, the Dow was still off 138 points, while losing stocks held a solid lead on gaining issues on the NYSE.
Now, a new day begins as August ends. Looking out at Asia in the overnight hours, we see that the major indexes were lower in trading; while in Europe, the bourses are trending down, as well. In other markets, oil prices are off; Treasury note yields, off yesterday, are now backtracking anew on global trade concerns; and the equity futures on our shores are suggesting a softer open when trading resumes. Meanwhile, we would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our loyal readers an enjoyable and, most important, safe Labor Day Weekend.
- Harvey S. Katz, CFA
At the time of this article’s writing, the author held positions in one or more of the companies mentioned.
