Monday, stocks fell 0.5% in Asia but closed little changed in Europe and the U.S. on light volume. Tuesday, stocks closed little changed in Asia, fell 1.4% in Europe, and closed down 0.3% in the U.S. on light volume. The VXO moved up 12% to end the day at 13.92. IBM closed back below the 150 benchmark.
Wednesday, stocks fell in Asia 0.7%, moved up slightly in Europe, and lost 0.9% in the U.S. on high volume. The VXO shot up 16% to close at 16.19. The 10-Year U.S. Treasury bond rate dipped 2% to close at 2.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 Index closed below 27,000 and 3000 benchmarks respectively. Precious metals fell 2% and their miners dropped twice that amount.
The feckless FOMC lowered the target federal funds rate by 0.25% and decided to stop rolling debt off its balance sheet in August. In his comments after the release of the FOMC decision, Powell said this rate adjustment was not to be viewed as the start of a long-term string of rate cuts. That statement especially roiled the Kool Aid crowd. The 10-Year U.S. Treasury bond rate plummeted 5% to close at 1.90.
Thursday, stocks fell 0.6% in Asia, rose 0.5% in Europe, and fell 1.1% in the U.S. on very high volume. This dragged the NYSE Index to close below the 13,000 leve. Friday, stocks fell 1.4% in Asia, 2.5% in Europe, and 0.6% in the U.S. on moderate volume. The 10-Year U.S. Treasury bond rate dropped another 2% to close at 1.86.