Elliott Eisenberg I Yawned My Way Through The US Government Shutdown: The Government Closed For A Minute And The World Crumbled? Or... Upon this week’s legislation to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling, the President stated that there were “no winners.” Yet equities (and, more generally, financial asset) investors and speculators did just fine. This week saw the S&P500, the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index and the small cap Russell 2000 all trade to record highs. The week’s 2.8% advance increased the small caps’ year-to-date gain to 31.3%. Google added about 140 points and $38.5bn of market cap this week (to $338bn) to reach an all-time high (up 43% y-t-d). The more speculative “beta” stocks continue to outperform. Chipotle rose 15% this week, increasing 2013 gains to 71%, and First Solar jumped 8.7% to boost y-t-d gains to 82%. The NASDAQ 100 (up 3.7% this week), Morgan Stanley High Tech Index (up 2.6%) and The Interactive Week Internet Index (3.4%) all traded to the highest levels since 2000. Treasury, MBS, and corporate debt prices were higher as well. The QE-enhanced 2013 version of “how crazy do things get?” is outshining even the 1999 speculative melee. The (post-LTCM bailout) year 1999 saw the small cap Russell 2000 Index jump from 422 to 505 (19.7%). This year, it has already run from 849 to 1,114 (up 31.3%). The S&P400 Midcap Index jumped from 392 to 445 in 1999 (13.5%). With more than two months to go, so far it’s 1,020 to 1,290 for the midcaps (up 26.5%). It’s been only about three weeks, but the fourth quarter has already shown itself worthy of the history books. If the leveraged speculating community can hold gains through year-end, the ranks of billionaires will surely inflate further. No winners? Terminal Phases by Doug Noland
Posted on: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 09:44:45 +0000
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