Week of December 24th Stock Market Watch

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Stocks continue to sell off as we head into Christmas and New Year’s. If the situation doesn’t improve, this will be the worst year for stocks since 2008. Over the last week, stocks like Alibaba, Amazon, Facebook, and Unitedhealth fell by more than 10%.

That said, there are a number of reasons to hate this market, they include:

  • The government shutdown
  • Rising interest rates
  • Fears of an economic downturn
  • Loss of confidence in the Federal Reserve Bank
  • Crashing oil prices
  • Uncertainty with Brexit

It’s probably safe to say, there will be on Santa Claus rally this year…

The VIX closed at 30.11 on Friday. Last week we mentioned that when VIX gets above 30 and above, the market is in state of panic. Well, welcome to the panic room.

Here are how some of the most actively traded index ETFs performed over the week: SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) -7.59, iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) -8.70%, SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) -7.18%, Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) -8.39%

Here are how some of the most actively traded commodity and interest rate ETFs performed: United States Oil Fund (USO) -11.55%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) +1.89%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) +1.42%

The markets will be open for a half day on Monday, and closed on Tuesday, for the Christmas holiday.

Economic Releases:
27 Dec 2018- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET; New Home Sales 10:00 AM ET

28 Dec 2018- International Trade In Goods 8:30 AM ET; EIA Petroleum Status Report 11:00 AM ET

Key Earnings:
None

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