Trading Diary: Friday’s yawn-inducing stock market action
Edgar Degas’ yawning 19th century laundry lady pretty much sums up today’s stock market action. (Image via Wikipedia)
WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 – Snow flurries swirl outside our window on this gloomy day, probably signaling the outer edge of a nor’easter that’s supposed to whack the Atlantic seaboard north of DC this weekend. We’ve been lucky here this winter as global warming climate changed made a furtive appearance this year, at least in the mid-Atlantic section of the U.S., after at least a 10 year hiatus. (Our new EPA Director knows this.)
But it’s sure cold today, and that’s what portfolios are feeling like as well. It’s a bit like dealing with a hangover—in this case, a hangover from the massive Trump Rally, which may or may not have played itself out at this point. Stocks are certainly giving us the feeling that they’re too pooped to participate.
What to do, what to do with our stagnating portfolios?
Trading Diary
After unloading a batch of stocks yesterday for a net profit, we’re holding today. As of 2:45 Friday afternoon, we haven’t been persuaded to do any buying or selling, even in our beleaguered precious metals mining shares, Newmont Mining (symbol: NEM) and Silver Wheaton (SLW).
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The downward pressure on gold and silver and the companies that mine these metals has been unrelenting due to that likely Fed interest rate hike next week, and what such an action usually does to stocks to this sector. But, on the other hand, it’s probably time for at least a little bounce. Ditto the markets, although the bounce doesn’t look like it’s happening today.
So, lacking any further news to make us more optimistic or pessimistic, we’re regarding the market’s recent downdraft as an event that has encouraged us to take profits where we can while dumping a few marginal losers for a better-than-average capital gain over all.
But, again, we’re not too eager—yet—to put our growing cash pile back to work. We can’t help thinking there may be a few more markdowns left before the market decides to relieve its current badly oversold condition—big time. Maybe sometime between Monday and Wednesday of next week. Stay tuned.
