Daily Investment Interpretations

February 2, 2009

2009-2-2:     The U. S  markets were little-changed today. The NASDAQ Composite added 18 (1.22%) to 1,494, the Dow lost 64.11 (-0.8%) to end at 7,937, and the S&P 500 fell 0.44 (-0.05%) to 825. Oil shrank slightly to $40.32, while gold parted with $21.20 to close at $907.20. The VIX rose 0.68 to 45.52. 
    Our Internet access was down all day so tonight's comments and linkages will be blissfully brief. Seasonally speaking, the period from now through April tends to be positive for stocks. Then the "sell in May and go away" (until November) rule comes into play. It certainly worked that way last year, although, in 2007, you would have missed the July and October rallies following that rule. 
    The 10 articles in Searching for the bottom offer some opinions. Peter Brimelow writes Top advisers feeling more depressed. Also of interest: Banks' standards keep choke hold on credit and Morgan Stanley may cut up to 1,800 jobs: report. (Macy's announced plans today to lay off 7,000.)