March 11, 2009
It was a modest day for the DJIA and the S&P500, increasing just .06 percent and .24 percent. The NASDAQ, however, moved higher by .98 percent. These results, nevertheless, were welcome. First because todays close is the second positive day in a road. This is an improvement over the up-then-down circumstances ruling the market since last Thursday.
The second favorable aspect of this close is that the three indices moved up, albeit by small amounts. Yesterdays analysis noted that the large gains have been followed by sharp turn arounds on the following day. This was not the case in todays market: the minor gains obviously feel better than losses.
Looking at the decrease in values since the October 2007 top, reveals that while prices are still falling, the rte of change seems to be on a moderating trend. The figure below relates the daily closing price of each index as a proportion of its market top on October 2007. It shows a relatively mild pattern at the beginning of last year that was succeeded by a severe decline. This, however, became less serious toward the end of last year. And while the downward path has become steeper earlier in 2009, it has turned up in recent days.
DJIA .06 percent
NASDAQ .98 percent
S&P500 .24 percent