Monday, stocks in Asia closed up 1.5%, in Europe closed down slightly, while they closed little changed in the U.S. on strong volume. Tuesday, stocks closed up in Asia up 0.8%, in Europe 1.4%, and in the U.S. 1.8% on strong volume. The VXO shot up 18% to close at 17.81. That moved the S&P 500 Index back above the 2800 benchmark.
Wednesday, stocks gained 0.5% in Asia but lost 0.4% in Europe and 0.3% in the U.S. on strong volume. The big story of the day was IBM’s quarterly evermore outrageous creative accounting . As time wears on, even Wall Street traders are growing weary of this charade. The stock closed down 8% to end the day at 134 and change. The other big news of the day was that the FOMC remains committed to increasing interest rates.
Thursday, stocks fell in Asia 0.7%, in Europe 0.5%, and in the U.S. 1.3% on strong volume. The VXO closed up 17% to end at 20.08. The S&P 500 Index closed far below the 2800 benchmark again. Friday, stocks closed in Asia down 0.3% while in Europe and the U.S. they were little changed on strong volume. IBM slid below the 130 benchmark.