The S&P 500 Loses 1.70%

Today was a rough day for the stock market. The Dow lost 332 points. The S&P 500 lost 35.27 points or 1.70%. The trading year is still young, but today was the second-worst day this year for the S&P 500. Friday was the third-worst.

The S&P 500 dropped below its 50-day moving average, and it’s not too far from 2,001.28 which is the current 200-DMA.

Since the bull market started six years and one day ago, the S&P 500 has fallen 5% or more 12 separate times. Each time it has rallied to a new high. At today’s close, we’re down 3.46% from the last closing high.

Here’s a chart of the 12 dips, along with what might become Lucky #13:

Low Date High Low Loss
30-Mar-09 832.86 787.53 -5.44%
10-Jul-09 946.21 879.13 -7.09%
30-Oct-09 1,097.91 1,036.19 -5.62%
8-Feb-10 1,150.23 1,056.74 -8.13%
2-Jul-10 1,217.28 1,022.58 -15.99%
16-Mar-11 1,343.01 1,256.88 -6.41%
3-Oct-11 1,363.61 1,099.23 -19.39%
1-Jun-12 1,419.04 1,278.04 -9.94%
15-Nov-12 1,465.77 1,353.33 -7.67%
24-Jun-13 1,669.16 1,573.09 -5.76%
3-Feb-14 1,848.38 1,741.89 -5.76%
15-Oct-14 2,011.36 1,862.49 -7.40%
10-Mar-14 2,117.39 2,044.16 -3.46%

It’s odd how January was quite bad, then February was very good, and now March looks soggy. Calendar months are apparently becoming feast or famine.

Breaking down the market, the low vol stocks fell much less than high beta stocks. Of course, that’s what they’re supposed to do but it appeared particularly dramatic today. The S&P 500 Low Vol Index fell just 1.18% today while the High Beta Index lost 2.18%. They were exactly 1% apart.

The big-cap S&P 100 fell 1.81% while the smaller-cap Russell 2000 lost 1.24%. The Tech Sector was the big loser with a loss of 2.19%. Financials were just behind at 2.12%. Utilities fared the best with a loss of just 0.16%. Bonds did quite well. The Long Bond ETF (TLT) gained 1.32% today.

Not too long ago, crude oil appeared to be recovering. Not anymore. Spot West Texas fell to $48.76 today. That’s the lowest close in a month.

The Buy List had another good day — and by that, I mean we sucked a little bit less than everybody else. Our Buy List lost “only” 1.59% today which is the fifth day in a row we’ve beaten the S&P 500. Unfortunately, three of those days were losses, and Qualcomm’s dividend news wasn’t enough to beat the anti-tech trend today. QCOM lost 1.13% today which was one of the better results in the large-cap tech sector.

Posted by on March 10th, 2015 at 7:20 pm


The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.