Market Update

The S&P 500 continues to dance along the 1365 line with 1% loss. Such weakness has caused the Volatility Index to rise sharply. Euphemistically labeled the Fear Gauge, it is currently up more than 11%, but still shy of its monthly high.

Energy stocks have rolled back into the red. The sector, which was recently at the flat line after it had been down well in excess of 1% this morning, is now back to a 0.3% loss. It is still today’s top performing sector, however.

Materials stocks are at the opposite end of the spectrum today, even though resource-related stocks often trade in close correlation. As a group, Materials stocks are down 1.8%, largely because of weakness in metals and mining plays. DJ30 -142.66 NASDAQ -36.20 SP500 -14.83 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 520/1.07 bln/1955 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 650/400 mln/2325

Market Update