OPINION

Pessimistic Market Commentators Pounce

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

Stock never had a chance yesterday as market commentators pounced early pre-opening weakness helping to trigger a perfect storm of fear.  The lower the market declined the greater the fear.  The greater the increase in fear the more the market declined.

Ultimately, its fine for the market to pullback. Major corrections and crashes ae going to happen, but the extra effort to push the market over the edge is disturbing.

Be that as it may, the rally since March 23rd has been so amazing it created a general feeling the market was due to pullback.  I have been worried about other things beyond an uptick in Covid-19 cases, which should have been expected. 

The news is worrisome, but it will also lead to a quicker self-correction among the public and more people will wear mask, social distance and avoid small crowded in-door facilities.  Numbers will rise for a another few weeks, then peak. As they come down, perhaps, they will inform a bull case.   

I want to see wider participation on up days, and we need to hear about the next round of stimulus.  I think it’s a huge mistake to turn off the spigot.  Folks saying people are saving stimulus rather than spending it don’t get the reason for that is people think it’s a one-shot deal.

Breadth

NYSE

NASDAQ

Advancing

350

606

Declining

2,635

2,781

Unchanged

59

55

Total

3,044

3,442

52 Week High

15

54

52 Week Low

12

12

Advancing

498.06M

2.00B

Declining

5.16B

3.55B

Unchanged

19.29M

19.15M

Total

5.67B

5.57B

 

Portfolio Approach

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Today’s Session

Initial Jobless Claims

Saw its twelve consecutive decline and dipped under 1.5 million.  The street was looking for 1.32 million, but 1.48 million is a long way from the 6.867 peak in March.

To see the chart, click here.

Continuing claims finally eased under 20 million, but the rate of change is stubbornly slow.

To see the chart, click here.

Watch Financials

With the new stress test debuting after the close, watch the action in bank stocks today. 

The big analyst calls for the morning comes from Berenberg, which slapped a “sell” rating on Boeing (BA) and share price target of $150.