February 27, 2009
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After a run of six negative days, prices recovered last Tuesday, but then drops for the rest of the week, brought us to todays result: nine declines since February 13. There are not many such sequences in the record, but then it is also true that there are not many scenarios where the U> S. economy has suffered as many setbacks, and, since January 20, a plentiful list of activists policy initiatives.
The S&P500 had only eight such series before today. An even number, four, occurred in good years as in years when the December close was below the January opening. The NASDAQ, with its shorter history, shows four happenings, with three of these in years when the market was in decline.
In the past, on the following day, the S&P500 experienced a further decline; it reversed direction, rising, on only two days. The NASDAQs record is more favorable, showing an even number of declining and rising days. Moreover, while three of its changes were less than one percent, it soared more than seven percent on one the last- occasion.
DJIA -1.66 percent
NASDAQ - .98 percent
S&P500 -2.36 percent