The U.S. markets were closed Monday for President’s Day but the holiday was quickly over when they reopened on Tuesday.
The S&P 500 was sharply down 3.6% Tuesday on doubts about the effectiveness of the stimulus package. Just as investors were trying to catch their breath they learned the Stanford Group Co. was accused of “Massive, Ongoing Fraud”. This is the second major fraud related case this year behind the Madoff Scandal. Thursday the markets were down again with the Dow falling to a 6-year low. Friday morning the markets again started off to another poor day with new 52 week lows on the New York stock exchange exceeding 500. The bank index ($BKX) lead the way down, nearly 10% intraday, only to stage a late afternoon rally closing down less than 1% to the downside. It was finally good to see a bit of strength coming back into the market after such a negative week.
Looking forward we are still very optimistic in the times ahead and we feel things will get better. Until then we are practicing patience and a lot of cash on the sidelines.
Posted on
Fri, February 20, 2009
by Mark Simmons / Portfolio Manager