Worst Quarter in Four Years

The stock market has started the week on a down note. The S&P 500 has been as low as 1,908 this morning, and it may soon break below 1,900. The index just barely dipped below Thursday’s low. The S&P 500 hit its lowest point since September 1.

Today is a classic defensive stock day outside one big exception—Healthcare. So far, Utilities and Staples are down the least while Energy, Materials and Healthcare are down the most. Normally, Healthcare and Staples are pretty close together, but Biotech has taken it on the chin lately. But today’s weakness isn’t just Biotech; it’s Healthcare in general. The third quarter comes to an end on Wednesday, and this will be one of the worst quarters for stocks in four years.

This morning, the government reported that personal spending rose 0.4% in August while personal income was up 0.3%. This was a good report and it suggests that Q3 GDP will be pretty good. The personal income and spending reports come at the end of the month, and they’re usually good hints at GDP. We now have two income and spending reports for Q3.

Incidentally, on Friday, Q2 GDP was revised higher to 3.9% growth. That’s quite good and it’s an impressive increase from the initial report of 2.3% growth.

Posted by on September 28th, 2015 at 10:18 am


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