Monday, stocks fell 0.3% in Asia and Europe but changed little in the U.S. on moderate volume. The VXO rose 7% to close at 12.38. Tuesday, stocks fell 1% in Asia, gained 0.3% in Europe, and rose 0.5% in the U.S. on strong volume. The VXO fell 10% to close at 11.59.
Wednesday, stocks closed nearly unchanged in Asia, fell 0.5% in Europe, and fell 0.4% in the U.S. on moderate volume. As expected, the FOMC held rates unchanged but used hawkish language in their statement. The 10-Year U.S. Treasury Bond yield rose 1% to close at that key level of 3.00%.
Apple booked a record closing high on a strong earnings report. Thursday, stocks fell 1.6% in Asia and dropped 0.9% in Europe but closed nearly unchanged in the U.S. on moderate volume. The VXO fell 6% to close at 10.89.
In case you need a reminder, here’s one telling us that stock prices are a bit high. And another reminder might be that Apple market capitalization just breached the one trillion dollar mark! Could it be we all need to take a lesson in investing from Forrest Gump? Keep in mind, that fictitious figure comes from taking the count of all outstanding shares in the company and multiplying it by the last price paid for a share. Of course, if any significant number of shares were sold at one time, the price of the stock would plummet. The same of course goes for Amazon, Facebook, Oracle, and even Microsoft. We have lots of billionaires on paper who are just that — billionaires on paper. Friday, stocks closed up slightly in Asia, gained 0.7% in Europe, and 0.4% in the U.S. on moderate volume. The VXO fell 7% to close at 10.14.