market sell off - THE RIDGEWOOD BLOG.

Posted on January 18, 2016 January 17, 2016

Markets suffer their worst start to the year since Great Depression

Marcus Leroux
Last updated at 12:01AM, January 16 2016

The start of this year has been the worst for financial markets since the onset of the Great Depression, with stock prices slumping around the world amid mounting concern over the situation in China.

A wave of selling has swept the world’s leading financial centres over the past two weeks, with the value of Britain’s leading companies falling by more than £110 billion since the start of the year.he year.

The FTSE 100 index of Britain’s biggest quoted companies fell 114 points, or 2 per cent, to 5,804 yesterday — the lowest close since November 2012. Indices in Europe and America have fared even worse: the Shanghai market was the worst performer, closing down 3.6 per cent, taking its total losses to 18 per cent for 2016. This was prompted by the price of a barrel of Brent crude dipping below the $30 mark, for the third time this week. In America the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 391 points, or 2.4 per cent, at 15,988.

The FTSE 100 index of Britain’s biggest quoted companies fell 114 points, or 2 per cent, to 5,804 yesterday — the lowest close since November 2012. In America the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 391 points, or 2.4 per cent, at 15,988.

The Shanghai market was the worst performer, closing down 3.6 per cent, taking its losses for the year so far to 18 per cent. This was prompted by the price of a barrel of Brent crude dipping below $30 for the third time this week.

David Buik, of Panmure Gordon, the investment bank, suggested that the “financial carnage” in stock markets in the first two weeks of the year was the worst since 1928.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/assetfinance/article4667135.ece

Posted on September 2, 2015 September 2, 2015

‘Death cross’ patterns spread to all corners of the stock market

By Tomi Kilgore

Published: Sept 1, 2015 1:37 p.m. ET

“Death cross” patterns continue to spread through the stock market like an epidemic, even infecting market segments believed to be more insulated from overseas turmoil.

The Russell 2000 index RUT, -2.71% of small-capitalization stocks became the latest victim among the major market indexes. The index’s 50-day moving average fell to 1,222.95 in midday trade Tuesday, crossing below the 200-day moving average (MA), which slipped to 1,224.11, according to FactSet.

Many chart watchers believe a death cross, when the 50-day MA crosses below the 200-day MA, indicates that a shorter-term decline has developed into a longer-term downtrend.

The Russell 2000’s last death cross appeared on Sept. 22, 2014. The index fell another 7.1% in the three weeks after that before bottoming at a one-year low.

That follows the death cross that appeared in the S&P MidCap 400 Index MID, -2.83% on Monday.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/death-cross-patterns-spread-like-a-bearish-virus-2015-08-28

Posted on August 26, 2015 August 25, 2015

Bear Trap: U.S. stocks stage dramatic reversal, erasing rally and raising new fears

By Drew Harwell and Simon Denyer August 25 at 4:48 PM

U.S. stocks plunged in the last hour of trading Tuesday to wipe out a day-long rally, adding fresh uncertainty to markets that had seemed to be on the rebound.

The wild swing highlighted investors’ anxieties over an expansive Chinese slowdown and hinted at fault lines in an American economy otherwise seen as strong.

The surprise setback dropped the Dow Jones industrial average more than 650 points from its mid-day peak, its biggest reversal since 2008, and pushed the index of 30 blue-chip stocks down 204 points, or about 1 percent, to 15,666.44.

Investors had spent most of the day climbing back from a dismal Monday and from several days of carnage in Chinese stock markets. China’s central bank on Tuesday cut interest rates in a bid to stimulate the country’s economy, and for a while that appeared to reassure European and U.S. markets.

But by late afternoon, Wall Street went back into selling mode, as lingering fears about a slowdown in the global economy undercut the brief surge of confidence.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/chinas-market-slides-again-but-rest-of-asia-enjoys-some-respite/2015/08/25/b1b8381a-4aa3-11e5-9f53-d1e3ddfd0cda_story.html

Posted on August 25, 2015 August 24, 2015

Market Sell off Wall Street like deer in the headlights

“Black Monday” Brings Global Market Rout, Investors Mourn The Death Of Central Bank Omnipotence

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/24/2015 16:07 -0400

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-08-24/black-monday-brings-global-market-rout-investors-mourn-death-central-bank-omnipotenc

Peter Schiff Warns “The Fed Is Spooking The Markets, Not China”

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/24/2015 – 16:35

The correction may soon morph into a full-fledged bear market if the Fed makes good on its supposed intentions to raise interest rates this year. Have no illusions, while most market observers are quick to blame the sell-off on China, this market was given life by the Fed, and the Fed is the only force that will keep it alive. Unfortunately for the Fed, it won’t be able to get away with doing nothing for too much longer. Events may soon force it to show its hand. Then perhaps some may notice that the Fed is holding absolutely nothing and has been bluffing the entire time.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-08-24/fed-spooking-markets-not-china

Posted on August 24, 2015 August 24, 2015

China’s Xi Jinping at center of concern as markets begin new week

Vladimir Putin signs 30-year gas deal with China

Y STUART LEAVENWORTH

In speeches and writings, Chinese President Xi Jinping often delivers the rhetoric of a Communist Party hardliner. And yet more than ever, capitalists worldwide are depending upon this Leninist – one who is in the midst of a power struggle – to prop up the global economy.

Concerns about China contributed to Wall Street’s biggest one-day sell-off last week since 2011, and the slide could continue when markets reopen on Monday.

Friday’s rout was triggered by a report that China’s manufacturing output had dipped to its lowest point since the 2009 global economic crisis. Investors increasingly fear China’s slowdown could be a tipping point for many emerging economies, many of whom grew dependent on selling commodities to China during its go-go days.

The 531-point drop in the Dow on Friday wasn’t all about China, of course. Investors also are worried about inflated equity prices, dropping oil prices, and the possibility the U.S. Federal Reserve could soon approve an interest rate hike. But China’s economic troubles loom large.

“The market may have overreacted,” said Charles Morrison, an Asia-Pacific expert who heads the East West Center in Honolulu. “But the Chinese manufacturing slowdown is a data point that creates concerns worldwide, because China’s manufacturing sucks up so much of the world’s resources.”

By some measures, China’s economy has grown to be equal in size with that of the United States, and it is still growing at a rate of roughly 7 percent yearly. But that’s a slowdown from previous years, and the impact is huge on China’s trade partners.