May 18, 2009
WEB HOST IS DOWN FAILED ON 5/15 . . . STILL NOT UP
Click on BLOG to get the daily analysis; ignore lack of current headline.
Thirteen of these days came between December 2000 to October 2002, when prices were falling and hit the bottom of that bear cycle. Three shared the crawl along the bottom between January and March 2003. A total of 25 closes saw increases at least as large as today between September 2008 and April 2009, a period marked by a substantial drop in prices.
The DJIA continued its up-then-down pattern, and today posted its tenth reversal in a row. Combining this sequence with the +1/-1/+1/-3* pattern of the NASDAQ and the S&P500 yields only six other closes in the past 59 years. One occurred at the 2007 top, two in the 1996-1999 recovery, while the other three took place in the early 1990s and in 1979, a period in which prices were climbing but also quite near the top.
In the past, on the following day, the indices posted two gains, both near the one percent mark, and four losses. Two of these negative days were no deeper than fractions, but the other two posted declines between -1 and -2 percent.
DJIA 2.85 percent
NASDAQ 3.11 percent
S&P500 3.04 percent
*The abbreviation for a positive close, after a negative close, following a positive close, that happened after three losing days in a row.