Tale of the Tape
Good evening, y’all. We made it to November. It’s basically Christmas. 🎄
We’ve got 2 months left in the year and the election is on TUESDAY. We expect the recent volatility to continue.
The VIX closed October at 38, making its 14th highest monthly close since its inception in 1990. More monthly charts below.
We’ll get another boatload of earnings this week. Paypal, Alibaba, Square, and Roku are all scheduled to report.
Stocks struggled last week. It was the worst week in the S&P 500 since March. Can it turn things around or are we in for more pain? Time will tell.
Here’s the S&P 500 weekly chart:
| S&P 500 | 3,269 | -5.64% |
| Nasdaq | 10,911 | -5.51% |
| Russell 2000 | 1,538 | -6.22% |
| Dow Jones | 26,501 | -6.47% |
Monthly Charts
It’s the end of another month. Here are a few monthly charts for your viewing pleasure.
The S&P 500 fell 2.7% last month. The $SPX is up 1.2% YTD.
The Nasdaq 100 ETF, $QQQ is up 26.7% YTD.
Energy is the worst performing sector in 2020. $XLE closed at its lowest monthly price since January 2004. Holy cow. 🤯
Bitcoin might try to break to all time highs. The cryptocurrency closed October (13,804) only $59 off its December 2017 monthly close (13,863). Will Bitcoin breakout? Place your bets…
The VIX closed October at 38. This is the 14th highest monthly close in the volatility index since its 1990 inception.
Daylight Savings Time
An old myth says that Daylight Saving was practiced to give farmers extra time under the sun to work in the fields. Today, dozens of countries follow DST to reduce electricity usage by extending daylight hours.
Benjamin Franklin was the first to mention the idea in 1784 in a letter he wrote to the editor of the Journal of Paris.
Ben argued:
All the difficulty will be in the first two or three days; after which the reformation will be as natural and easy as the present irregularity; for, ce n’est que le premier pas qui coûte. Oblige a man to rise at four in the morning, and it is more than probable he will go willingly to bed at eight in the evening; and, having had eight hours sleep, he will rise more willingly at four in the morning following.
Here’s the Smithsonian with more.
Sunday Links:
🧍♂️ Yuval Noah Harari on The Story of Sapiens, Forging the Skill of Awareness, and The Power of Disguised Books
♻ Recycled drink cans decorate exterior of Daily Paper’s first US store
🔋 Spanish Oil Giant Now Spends More on Renewable Energy Than Oil Drilling
🎧 Technical Analysis Radio: Hedge Fund Manager, Mark Dow
The Week Ahead
And now a brief and well-organized look ahead at the trading week beginning Monday, November 2nd, 2020:
Economic Calendar:
- 11/5 FOMC Rate Decision (2:00 PM ET)
- 11/6 October Unemployment Rate (8:30 AM ET)
Here’s the full Economic Calendar provided by Briefing.
Earnings Calendar:
Be sure to know when your stocks are reporting. Here’s the earnings calendar.
