Monday, stocks in Asia dropped 2%, but they rallied in Europe 1.4% and in the U.S. 0.6% on low volume. The VXO slid to 14.22 and precious metals and their miners gained about 1.9%. After the bell, Alcoa reported second quarter earnings beat estimates despite abysmal performance. As shown in this article, this is a classic example of creative accounting. Tuesday, Asian stocks nearly erased the previous day’s fall, rising 1.9%. Stocks in Europe and the U.S. both roared upward another 0.8% on low volume.
Wednesday, left Asian stocks 0.8% higher, those in Europe and in the U.S. unchanged on low volume. The VXO dropped nearly 4% to close at 14.25. The release of the latest FOMC minutes was the big news. Here’s a good summary. After that Bernanke did his bit to goose the markets even more with a dovish tone after his speech at the National Bureau of Economic Research conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Thursday, stocks in Asia shot 1.8% higher. In Europe, they climbed 0.6%, but in the U.S. they soared to the heights, rising 1.6% on low moderate volume. Precious metals gained about 4% while their miners jumped up twice that amount. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index closed at record highs. Happy days are here again!
Friday, Asian stocks retreated just 0.3%, European stocks retreated slightly, and U.S. stocks ended about where they stated on low moderate volume. For the week, stocks rose about 3% while precious metals and their miners rose about twice that.