Today in the market, Wednesday, October 08, 2008: U.S. stocks fell for a sixth straight session on Wednesday, as a coordinated worldwide cut in interest rates failed to alleviate fears about a global recession.
It was a session of wild swings, with no clear direction determined until the final minutes. Wall Street’s favorite measure of investor fear, the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index .VIX, hit a record intraday high.
In the last hour of trading, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson warned that the turmoil “will not end quickly.” He also said it may be several weeks before the Treasury Department begins buying unwanted and illiquid assets from financial firms under the $700 billion bailout program that Congress approved last week and that is now U.S. law.
With Wednesday’s decline, the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average has lost 14.7 percent in the last six days — its worst such run since after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. In terms of points, the Dow has dropped 1,594.55 points over the last six days — its worst six-day streak ever. (headlines & market commentary by Reuters)
ETF/CEF Low Volatility:
- FXF – Currency Shares Swiss Franc Trust
ETF/CEF Discussion: What can I say at this point, except the carnage continues? But look at the headlines…recession fears. Okay folks…think the recession is upon us now. Yes, I know there is a technical definition of recession that may not indicate that we are in recession now.. but who cares about the technical threshold? There is a global recession unfolding as we speak.
RSI picked a Swiss Franc ETF. I’m cool on the pick since I’m unsure that it has bottomed out, but what do I know? I’m just RSI’s messenger. FXF may be another place to hide, so you take a look at it.
Heads up notice- Due to weekend commitments, the blog will not be published on Friday. I will have the blog up on Saturday or Sunday. I suspect it will be more of the same black crape paper….
