The Stock Market’s Pre-Halloween Horror Show
A Five Part Chill Ride
From an attitude of complete complacency throughout 2013 and through the summer of this year, investors are suddenly beginning to take fright. But, what, exactly, are they afraid of? Here’s a short list of things that seem to be going bump in the night.
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October
This is probably the least frightening thing, but it is true that historically, October is the most volatile month of the year. Whether this has to do with mutual fund jockeying before the end of the fiscal year or pre-holiday jitters, no one knows for sure. What the market has shown so far this month is not out of the norm.
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Fed tightening
The Federal Reserve continues to rumble about eventual tightening. At the same time, it repeatedly assures that any interest rate increases will be slow and measured to make sure the economy doesn’t crumble in response. Can we trust them? Do they know how to deliver what they promise? If the past is any guide, rate increases will probably provide something of a bumpy ride for the market.
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Geopolitical problems
From ISIS, to Russia, to China, to our own southern border,there seems no end to geopolitical worries now that our government has stepped back from its traditional center stage role in international affairs.
- ISIS has taken large chunks of territory in both Iraq and Syria. It sits on the border of Turkey, a member of NATO and is threatening Jordan and Lebanon. ISIS has announced their intention to bring down the government of Iran and to hijack that country’s own contentious nuclear program. Furthermore, they have ambitions to infiltrate terrorists into the US through our virtually unguarded border with Mexico. Certainly, if they can destabilize Turkey, take down Iran, or manage a large scale terrorist attack within the US, the fallout could be damaging to the market. Russia and China have both taken much more aggressive military postures of late.
- Russia, of course, has annexed Crimea and is making at least a small scale war in eastern Ukraine. Obviously, part of the motivation is pure opportunism, but at what point will the West call Putin’s bluff. If it is a bluff. Russia’s economy runs on oil and with the oil price having come off signifcantly of late, it will be intereting to see if that take the wind out of Putin’s sails, or, on the other hand, further motivate him to be adventurous abroad to divert his public’s focus from a stalling economy.
- China, too, is flexing its military muscles. With tens of millions of young men with no chance of finding a bride, thanks to its misguided “one child policy”, the testosterone levels in China’s armed forces must be unbelievable. So far, China has been limited to bullying Japan and trying to push the US Navy around a bit in the waters off the Chinese coast. Nonetheless, China’s tone and actions have been worrying enough to push Japan to the point where that country is rethinking its commitment to post WWII pacifism.
- So much has been written about our southern border problems that it’s hard to add anything new. Nonetheless, it should be repeated that a lack of control of who enters the US could lead to severe internal security problems in a worst case scenario.
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Ebola
With the first reported US fatality, a fatality and confirmed case in Spain, and worries about suspected cases in the UK and Australia, the fear of Ebola and its possible consequences is certainly onthe rise. Beyond the health fears, though, lies a fear that points a potential dagger at the heart of the market. The economies of the countries hardest hit by the plague, Liberia and Sierra Leone, have virtually collapsed. Could a similar chain of events bring the US economy, or the world economy, to a standstill?
Western medicine is certainly light years ahead of the healing arts in west Africa. The medical authorities in developed countries claim that they are prepared and that there will be no pandemic in Western nations. But the apparent bungling of cases in Spain and here in Dallas leave the public, and the market, skeptical.
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Global economics
While the US seems to be making slow but fairly steady progress, things are not so good in other corners of the globe. The European economy is definitely slowing, as are Japan and China. Can a weak, but recovering, US economy withstand the headwinds from the rest of the world? At 10/9/14’s close of 1928.21, the S&P 500 is only 4.5% off its most recent intra-day high of 2018.66, set back on September 19th.
The market was certainly ripe for a correction, at least, and whether this dip turns into more than that may well be known by the time Halloween arrives.