Stocks in Asia traded flat Monday. In Europe, stocks declined 0.5% and in the U.S. 0.4% on low volume. From the seeking-a-greater-fool department, appetite for stocks has now reached pre-2008 crash levels. In line with that report, the VXO fear gage plummeted another 5% to close at 13.08 while Facebook charged upward over 2% as it homes in on the $30 per share level. Here’s a rather long but interesting article that offers the case that banks are propping up the stock market. That may be partially true, but I wonder if the Fed itself has a significant role in playing with the major indices.
Tuesday, stocks in Asia dropped 0.6% while stocks in Europe ended flat. In the U.S. fell 0.4% on low moderate volume. Wednesday after a mildly positive earnings report from Alcoa, stocks in Asia rose 0.4% and in Europe rose 0.7%. Facebook continued it’s lunatic rise—this time with a more than 4% gain to blast it above the $30 per share mark. In the U.S., stocks gained 0.4% on low volume.
Stocks rose 0.7% in Asia Thursday. In Europe, stocks fell 0.3% as the ECB left rates unchanged. Stocks in the U.S. rose 0.9% on low moderate volume. The Facebook madness continued with the clueless bidding up the stock to over $31 per share. VXO dropped about 2% to close at 13.29. This article explains further the theory that banks are juicing the stock market.
Friday, stocks did little on low volume. The week was a non-event except for a few stocks, like Facebook, which gained nearly 7% on hope.