Blue Chips Smashed Again; Dollar Dives; Gold, Silver Benefit

Whether or not the market - via the headline-parsing algorithms - was reacting to news that Rex Tillerson was fired from his position as Secretary of State or to hints that Larry Kudlow (yes, that "king dollar" Larry [cocaine habit] Kudlow) was in line to become the president's chief financial advisor has to be considered somewhat immaterial considering the calamitous close and the repeating pattern of strong openings and weak closes, telltale chart signals of bear markets.

Tuesday's rout left the Dow Jones Industrials down for the month... not by much, just 22 points, but there's been fundamental damage done to stocks not only today, but over the previous five weeks as well.

As Money Daily has recently taken pains to point out, the mood of the market has changed considerably since the go-go days of January. February marked the worst market performance in more than two years, and March is shaping up to be volatile and potentially devastating to equity holders.

Stocks have had ample time to recover the February losses but have failed to do so. That's an unmistakable fact underlying the weakening dynamic of the current condition.

On the day, the US dollar index dipped below the critical level of 90, closing at 89.71. The main beneficiaries of the dollar demise were the precious metals, as both gold and silver demonstrated strength. Though the gains were nothing dramatic, the PMs looked today like safe-haven bets, as did the 10-year-note, closing with a benign yield of 2.85%. Oil was banged lower, to 60.90 per barrel in WTI. The Dow has lost 328 points in the past two days, nipping off the excess of Friday's 440-point binge.

There are plenty of frayed nerves at the brokerage trading desks, especially with this coming Friday's options expiration, a triple-witching conclusion to the week.

Dow Jones Industrial Average March Scorecard:

Date	Close	Gain/Loss	Cum. G/L
3/1/18	24,608.98	-420.22	-420.22
3/2/18	24,538.06	-70.92	-491.14
3/5/18	24,874.76	+336.70	-154.44
3/6/18	24,884.12	+9.36	-145.08
3/7/18	24,801.36	-82.76	-227.84
3/8/18	24,895.21	+93.85	-133.99
3/9/18	25,335.74	+440.53	+306.54
3/12/18	25,178.61	-157.13	+149.41
3/13/18	25,007.03,	-171.58	-22.17

At the Close, Tuesday, March 13, 2018:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 25,007.03, -171.58 (-0.68%)
NASDAQ: 7,511.01, -77.31 (-1.02%)
S&P 500: 2,765.31, -17.71 (-0.64%)
NYSE Composite: 12,831.76, -66.63 (-0.52%)