Skip to main content

Dow by Oct 17: 9000 or 7000 ?

What a week with worst weekly losses ever for Dow and S&P. Both indexes lost 18% in one week. I thought these indexes are supposed to be less volatile unlike Nasdaq. But last week, all bets were off. Almost all stocks were having weekly fluctuations of 50%. What would next week bring ?

There are couple of important trends to watch out to predict what would happen next week ?
  • Would MUFJ close Morgan Stanley investment of $9B for 20% at $25 per stock ? (MS closed below 10 on 10/10). I am predicting that this deal would get closed on Tuesday though MS may give it discount and bring down the price just below $20. That would still much better than MUFJ just walking away. If that would happen, it would be repeat of Lehman story. But this time Paulson cannot afford to play "moral hazard experiment" he did with Lehman. If MS goes down, that would be end of American finance as we know it. But that won't happen. So in summary, MS would survive
  • US gov taking stakes in banks: British have shown a way which I think is well though plan even though it came over 2 days. US and other European governments should follow British plan and part-nationalize the banks by offering to take stakes in banks and this should happen quickly. If British can do in 2 days, why not Paulson do it in 2 days (he did act over weekends 4 times this year for Bear, Fannie/Freddie, Lehman and so on)
So despite all the gloomy news, I am optimistic and if I have to pick one number about DOW. I would predict it is more likely close near 9000 than near 7000. At this moment, I won't recommend any particular stocks since there are hundreds of good companies on sale prices (and I was dead wrong on some of my previous recommendations).

So if you have courage, start taking small steps and invest in mutual funds with focus on stocks. I am sure, in long-term, it would work out ok

Have a good weekend!

/Shyam

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2025 = Is it going to be 1997 or 2000?

Happy Holidays... After 5 months of hibernation with no real reason than writing block, I decided to use quiet morning of Christmas day to start writing again. Lot has happened in last 5 months - in particular release of Animal Spirits with Fed starting interest rate reduction cycle and historic victory of President Trump for 2nd term. As the year turns into 2025 and stock markets at all time high, one would wonder, what's next?  To answer this, one needs to look back at 1920s and 1990s to give us some context on where markets may be headed. 1920s saw invention of televisions, radio, wider adoption of cars, vacuums, penicillin and many other which we consider household items now. These inventions created roaring 20s with markets going up by 500% eventually leading to crash of 1929. However during mid-20s, markets keep going up due to excitement of these inventions and end of World War-1 and Spanish Flu Pandemic. 1990s also saw many inventions - the key being launch of Netscape in 1...
Post a Comment
Read more

And the Oscar goes to...

It's Oscar Sunday and time for predictions for few categories - before I digress into talking about drama in DC or markets.  First of all, I want to recognize the damage LA fires have done to the beloved areas of Los Angeles and impacted families across all spectrums. My heart goes out to them and wish them recovery and rebuilding of their lives... This year's Oscar nominees and post nomination period had been interesting to say the least. Due to this, the field is wide open in almost all categories and that's what makes prediction game so interesting. Just to set expectations, I would consider a win if I get even 50% predictions correct given the dynamics of nominees this year. So here are my predictions - "And the Oscar goes to..." Best Picture - Anora (surprise could be "The Brutalist") Best Director - Sean Baker for "Anora" (Surprise could be Brady Corbet for "The Brutalist") Best Actor - Adrien Brody for "The Brutalist"...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Politics and Gamesmanship of TikTok!

TikTok is less than 3 hours from going dark on USA's east coast if TikTok owner Bytedance (and Chinese Government) follows thru its "bluff" to honor the law " Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act" which goes into effect on Jan 19, 2025. And suddenly there is lots of politics and gamesmanship around TikTok.. Let's look at the players and their positions US Congress: The " TikTok Ban" law was passed by congress with bipartisan support and coincidently it goes into effect one day before new administration takes charge. Everyone knew the exact date and time of oath taking ceremony of new President...but maybe the congress did not think that there would be change of President and did not bother to put effective date post new government taking charge...that created a window of 36 hours of "law being in effect" unless... President Biden: Biden himself did not think that he won't be President for 2nd term. S...
Post a Comment
Read more