Weekend News to Start the Week Off
Two items from the weekend that will spill into this week and command our attention, one important to investors, the other important to everyone. We start with what investors should pay attention to this week.
The Stock Market
Stocks had a positive week last week, and it does look like the correction of the previous two weeks has ended. We noted last week, however, what we can profitably watch now, and it bears repeating:
After the big news of Ebola in New York, we observed a lack of panic, which is good, but may now be witnessing a kind of complacency, which isn't so good. Some people interviewed by the media went out of their way to show how they weren't going to let Ebola effect them in any way, which I suggest isn't a healthy reaction. Bravado never stopped a contagious disease.
That being said, our last analysis provided a reasonable way to view what's going on that falls between official "reassurances" and outright panic. The salient point:
The Stock Market
Stocks had a positive week last week, and it does look like the correction of the previous two weeks has ended. We noted last week, however, what we can profitably watch now, and it bears repeating:
...we wait to see what the Dow Industrials and Dow Transports do in the coming weeks. If they both exceed their mutual September highs, we're probably looking at more bull. If, however, they fail to exceed those highs, or if only one does, we've probably got our first warning of trouble ahead.Ebola Developments
After the big news of Ebola in New York, we observed a lack of panic, which is good, but may now be witnessing a kind of complacency, which isn't so good. Some people interviewed by the media went out of their way to show how they weren't going to let Ebola effect them in any way, which I suggest isn't a healthy reaction. Bravado never stopped a contagious disease.
That being said, our last analysis provided a reasonable way to view what's going on that falls between official "reassurances" and outright panic. The salient point:
...so far, despite being transmitted, Ebola's been stopped in its tracks here in the U.S. But it shouldn't have been transmitted in the first place if proper precautions were taken. We don't know whether transmission occurred because proper precautions were not, in fact, taken. If that were the case, we hope that such a failure has been addressed and remedied.And to remind you why you need to develop clear thinking as you take in the ongoing reports about this dread disease, we note this from a weekend report on Bloomberg.
Some experts have raised the possibility that the current version of Ebola has mutated into something more contagious than in the past. There’s no data -- genetic or otherwise -- that supports that ideaPlease do note that a more accurate comment here would be that some experts have raised the possibility that the current version of Ebola might mutate. Do you see what's going on here? It's just another of those "reassuring" comments that, frankly, serve only to keep you complacent. There is a middle ground between complacency and panic. It's called vigilance. We suggest you consider holding that middle ground as you read whatever media reports you encounter this coming week.
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