Was Friday's sell-off the tipping point leading to a larger correction, or was it just Black Monday anniversary anxiety? As has been well documented for weeks now, the 20th anniversary of the October'87 crash was a reminder that things can turn very ugly, very quickly. Was it coincidence or psychological, or is it real. According to those who remember, the Friday preceding the October' 87 Black Monday had many similarities to this past Friday.
What were the catalysts to Friday's drubbing - poor earnings from WB and poor guidance from industrials like SLB, and CAT. It was a given that the Financial sector would underperform and that Tech would outperform, but investors seem to be surprised that industrials are not optimisitc going into Q4.
Asian markets are tanking as I write this post. The USD continues to fall against overseas currencies. What's in store for tomorrow? We'll soon find out.
Friday's sharp sell-off has sent the "fear gauges" to their highest levels seen since the 9/18 rate cut. The steady weakness in equities has come as a mixed start to earnings season has cast doubt on the mkt's ability to push to new highs after the impressive bounce off the 8/16 lows. The Dow and S&P 500 are down ~4% on the week (~2.5% today), while the Nasdaq has lost around 2.8% this week (2.6% today). The NDX 100, however, bucks the trend by holding tight within its recent trading range. The VIX is currently +4.23 (+24%) on the week, while the more tech-focused VXN is up 4.51 (+21%) to 25.71 on the week...