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• Thursday, 29 July 2010

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• Stock Market Volatility And Trading Volumes Indicate Investors Are Still Trading - 30 October 2008

Tuesday saw Wall Street enjoying its second-best advance ever, but Wednesday presented a mixed bag of major stock indexes. While many have been referring to the stock market at seesawing, at times the drastic losses and gains are more like a bungee jump - and just as gut-wrenching for investors. So what are investors to make of the ongoing extreme volatility of the market? There are varying opinions among experts, but if looking for the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, investors may want to bear in mind that this is not the first time that the market has been extremely volatile and, based on historic trends, a number of analysts believe that more stable times are not too far ahead.

• Pension Plans/Retirement Funds Hard Hit By Economic Crisis - 27 October 2008

While world leaders gather in a series of meetings to discuss strategies to deal with the current global economic crisis, as well as looking into co-operative measures of preventing a repeat performance in the future, ordinary citizens are often baffled by what is going on. Many who regularly pay into retirement funds believe they are acting in a responsible manner by making provision for their later years, but have never given much thought as to how the money is invested. So, the all to frequent news headlines announcing that millions, billions and even trillions of dollars relating to retirement funds/pension plans have been “wiped out” or have “disappeared” are a major cause for concern.

• Third Quarter Corporate Earnings and Possible Additional Federal Reserve Intervention Affect See-Sawing Market - 22 October 2008

While acknowledging that the U.S. market is likely to remain volatile for some time, many are of the opinion that the market’s devastating downward slide may be nearing an end. However, the U.S. economy is still in a whole heap of trouble, and this was underscored by the fact that on Monday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called on Congress to consider an additional fiscal package to boost the economy. Historically, in tough times the stock market has picked up months before a noteworthy improvement was experienced in the economy – so this should come as no surprise to the financial world.

• Investor Confidence Knocked By Volatile Market – and Vice Versa - 17 October 2008

Stock markets in the U.S. opened low on Thursday, with traders apprehensive as to what surprises another trading day may hold. Adding weight to the terms "yo-yoing", "see-sawing" and "roller-coaster ride" that have become commonplace when describing the volatility of the current market, following a morning of stomach-churning declines, the market picked up dramatically with the Dow closing at 8,979 - more than 4 percent up, while the Nasdaq rose more than 5 percent and the S&P climbed by over 4 percent. European markets did not follow suit as has been the case recently, and London’s FTSE, Paris’s CAC-40 and Frankfurt’s DAX all dropped between 4 to 6 percent.

• Dramatic Market Rebound a Welcome Start to the Week as Bailout Strategies Are Fine-Tuned - 14 October 2008

No doubt driven by the news that governments around the world are taking unprecedented action to bolster the financial sector, Monday saw Wall Street record its most phenomenal bounce back since the 1930s, with major stock markets around the world enjoying similar positive results. Following one of the worst trading weeks ever, the rally was welcomed with elation by stock market players. While not wanting to put a dampener on the high spirits of investors, the question on the minds of many is likely to be: "Is this going to last?" Given the volatility of the market in recent months, the answer to that is anybody’s guess.

• Authorities Hopeful That “Coordinated Emergency Rate Cut” Will Restrain Spreading Financial Crisis - 9 October 2008

Confirming speculation that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates before their next official meeting scheduled for 28-29 October, it was announced Wednesday that rates would be cut by 50 basis points to 1.50 percent. While welcoming the news, investors remain wary about the effect this will have on U.S. stock markets and the economy. In what has been termed as a “coordinated emergency rate cut”, similar interest rate cuts were made in the U.K., China, Canada, Switzerland and Sweden, as well as by the European Central Bank.

• Air of Pessimism Likely to Persist Despite Approval of Revised $700 Billion Bailout - 6 October 2008

Following almost two weeks of intense debate, the revised $700 billion financial sector bailout plan was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, with President George W. Bush signing the bill into law on Friday. With unanswered questions regarding the implementation of the plan and many questioning its potential effectiveness, analysts are doubtful that the plan’s approval will lift the cloud of pessimism hanging over the stock markets, at least in the short term.

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