Monday, stocks rose in Asia 0.8%, and in Europe and in the U.S. 0.7% on very low volume. The VXO fell to an even more ridiculous level, dropping over 3% to close at 11.42. As the Dow and S&P indices continue to make new daily records, gold (something with tangible value) again dropped below the $1200 per ounce level.
Tuesday, stocks rose slightly in Asia and Europe. That was enough to move the NIKKEI above 16,000. Stocks in the U.S. rose 0.4% on extremely low volume on a holiday-shortened day. The VXO fell to an unsustainable 11.00 level. Wednesday, stock markets were closed for Christmas.
Thursday, stocks in Asia rose 0.4% and in Europe 0.2%, and 0.5% in the U.S. on extremely low volume. The big news was that the 10-Year U.S. Treasury Bond yield closed at 3.0%. Here’s a nice annotated graph that shows the history of interest rates and gives a good perspective of how unnatural current rates really are. Friday, stocks in Asia rose 0.4% and in Europe 1%, and in the U.S. just slightly on abysmal volume. Could it be that there are no more greater fools?
Here’s a bit biased view of the fantasy land which is the current stock market. For the week, stocks gained about 1.2% while the VXO dropped about 9% to close at 10.93.