With the month of August winding down to the final four trading days, speculators are taking few chances of an upward bent at the end of the month.
While the averages may have reached new highs in the month, they’ve backed off since the early days of August. The Dow Industrials set a new all-time closing high on the 7th (22,118.42), but have dropped back and traded sideways since.
The NASDAQ, which made its all-time high on July 26, (6,422.75) has slipped through August, though in both cases the losses have been restrained. There’s no good reason for which to panic at this point, but the media and government will make certain to frighten investors and the general public with the upcoming budget and debt ceiling debates in September.
Thursday’s losses may have been minor, but the larger trend has been to the downside for two weeks in the case of the Dow, and a month on the NASDAQ.
If the month of August is presaging what is to come, September may be a good time to sit back and watch the fireworks.
With the end of the week on tap, the major indices are in no danger of closing lower for the week as a whole, which would end a string of four straight losing weeks for the NASDAQ and two straight for the Dow.
With three days of August trading remaining next week, it will be worth noting whether the markets will rally and turn the month from an overall loser to a winner.
At the Close, Thursday, August 24, 2017
| ^DJI
Dow Jones Industrial Average |
21,783.40 | -28.69 | -0.13% |
| ^IXIC
NASDAQ Composite |
6,271.33 | -7.08 | -0.11% |
| ^GSPC
S&P 500 |
2,438.97 | -5.07 | -0.21% |
| ^NYA
NYSE COMPOSITE (DJ) |
11,773.80 | -12.12 | -0.10% |