Monday, stocks fell 1% in Asia, 2.2% in Europe, and 0.9% in the U.S. on low volume. Precious metals and their miners gained 1.5% and the VXO jumped over 12% to close at 14.50. The big news was the worsening prospect for Ukraine remaining intact as an independent nation.
Tuesday, stocks rose 0.3% in Asia, 2% in Europe and 1.6% in the U.S. on low volume. The VXO tumbled nearly 12% to close at 12.80 while precious metals and theiir miners fell about 1%. Monday must have been a false alarm. Wednesday, stocks in Asia rose 0.4%, while those in Europe and the U.S. marked time on low volume, but precious metals miners gained 1.5%.
Thursday, stocks in Asia rose 0.9%. In Europe, stocks closed virtually unchanged. In the U.S. they rose 0.4% on low volume. Friday, stocks rose 0.4%, but fell 1.6% in Europe. In the U.S., they were little changed on low volume. Precious metals fell about 1.5% and their miners about twice that.
For the week, U.S. stocks gained another 0.9%. The tragic news of flight MH370 reminds us that what goes up, must come down. No one believes the plane is still in the air. They’re searching the ground. So it is with an over-inflated stock market. The only question is when this shooting star will return to earth.