Ep. 76 - That was the drop.

Market Chat

The Days Ahead: Earnings and trade news, especially China as manipulator. One-Minute Summary: It’s difficult to pinpoint the catalyst for the market sell-off this week. Most of the culprits were known for weeks. Trade, China, rates, tech problems, October seasonals. We knew all that. No central bank said or did anything they hadn't said already. So what was it? We'd point to two factors. One, technical. There are plenty of algorithm strategies. They see a price break and start dumping stocks to protect the positions. So, when Nasdaq broke its 200-day moving average on Wednesday, a lot of trading strategies kicked off. Don't expect great numbers from quant or hedge funds this year. Two, rates. Tuesday was also a day when the U.S. Treasuries fell. There were some big Treasury auctions that didn't help. But markets panic when investments meant to move in opposite (stocks and bonds) directions start tracking together. Treasuries rallied later in the week so normal service resumed. We'd also point out that our own “Fear” measures (gold, Yen, Swiss Franc and the 2-Year Treasury) barely moved so this wasn't a wholesale rush to safety. We think most of the recent 25bp increase in the 10-Year Treasury is catch up. It was clearly over sold and the rally on Friday brought that back to only a 10bp increase. Many investors have played the inverted yield curve story…that, yes, short rates would increase but longer rates would remain anchored because the economy was going to peak soon. We feel that's broadly true but the 10-Year hadn't moved enough to adjust. The economy, after all, will probably grow around 3% this year, which is close to its 70-year average. Yet Fed Funds are at their lowest since 1964. There was no major economic data. Inflation came in low and consumer confidence dipped a little. We would not consider either relevant to the week. -- If you want to join us live next time or get future updates about new episodes, subscribe to our email newsletter: www.bandjadvisors.com/subscribe Did you like this podcast? Be sure to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts: bandjadvisors.com/itunes Ask us your financial questions in your review and we'll answer them in the next episode. We appreciate your feedback! Learn more about Brouwer & Janachowski and our wealth management services: www.bandjadvisors.com