Dow Plunges even lower to end a dismal week for investors

Dow Plunges even lower to end a dismal week for investors

The Dow (INDU) closed 483 points, or 1.6%, lower in Friday trading, marking its lowest level since November 2020. The S&P 500 (SPX) and the Nasdaq (COMP) Composite were down 1.7% and 1.8%, respectively. 

The Dow fell by more than 800 points at one point, falling more than 20% from its record close of 36,799.65 set on January 4, and entering bear territory.

The S&P 500 remains in bear territory.

“We are now in another downswing in the ongoing bear market,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network. “This year, there have been four drops and three rallies—and we are down quite a bit. That doesn’t feel good.” 

This is the fourth negative day in a row for the major indexes and their fifth decline in the last six weeks.

Investors don’t have many places to make money at the moment: In addition to sinking stocks, the bond market is also selling off, sending US Treasury yields soaring to 11-year highs in recent days.  

The 10-year yield fell back a bit Friday but remains near 3.7%, and the 2-year yield is above 4.1%. That’s a much better return than you can get with stocks these days, so high bond yields are adding pressure on the stock market.

Wall St remains concerned about the recent announcement by the Fed’s that more interest rate hikes are on the way.

The market sell-off could continue for a prolonged time, which will negatively impact investors, homeowners and increase foreclosures, bankruptcies and increase the debt of average Americans.

Let’s face it, there has been no good news in the markets in recent times. Many of the top bank CEOs are already using the term “recession”, yet the administration still refuses to acknowledge the reality.

Inflation is not going away soon, the interest rate hikes are going to continue and we will be paying more for basic necessitates. As many Americans fear a cold winter and holiday season the investors are heralding the beacons that Yes there is something wrong in the economy and they too do not trust the current course the Feds are sending us on.

We are living in a strange time…. A portfolio diversified with physical gold and silver is favorable during such economic uncertainties. No one can deny that physical gold is a must-have as part of your retirement account, in order to diversify it against all odds.