Dow Industrials Down 8th Straight Day, Damage Spreading

Well, there goes (almost) all of the gains made on the Dow between June 1 and June 11. Eight-day losing streaks (as any addicted gambler will tell you) can do nasty things to your bottom line. In this case, it's looking squarely at end-of-quarter results, which, at this exact juncture, is a small gain. April was +50.81, May +252.59, June +45.86, for a whopping grand total of 349.26, a little short of 1 1/2 percent gain.

While there are still six trading days left in June and in the quarter, there's the distinct possibility that the Dow, already in a confirmed bear market since April 9, is heading still lower, looking at the recent (March 23) bottom of 23,533.20 for any kind of support.

As the Dow continues the longest consecutive daily slide in the past 40 years, dating back to 1978, the recent losses have wiped out all gains for the year, leaving the Dow down one percent YTD. The record for longest daily losing Dow streak is 11 days, that level of pain occurring in 1971 (Nixon closes the gold window) and 1973 (OPEC?).

All is not gloom and doom, however. The NASDAQ is still 12% higher for the year and the S&P 500 is holding onto about a three percent gain for the year.

Losses are beginning to spread. The S&P has lost 37 points since June 12, and the NASDAQ was down 68 points just today. Whether these losses will stick and markets begin to behave more rationally, like the Dow, is a matter for the future. Since the February correction, analysts have warned investors that this is a stock pickers' market, noting that the easy days of just buying an index fund or playing the widely held stocks has come to an end. It's more about being adroit and making in-and-out moves, much like a day-trader. It's really nowhere for long term investors to be playing, as many stocks are still near all-time highs and are still carrying overpriced valuations, many based on earnings that have been manipulated higher by buyback sleight-of-hand.

Non-believers in the Dow Theory, which confirmed a primary trend change from a bull to a bear market on April 9, may be getting a bit nervous, though the recent bidding on the NASDAQ and Russell 2000 would suggest otherwise.

Once the floodgates are fully open, a condition which feels very much like all of this week, there will be no place to run to, nowhere to hide, except, maybe bonds, which have been stubborn but steady, the 10-year-note holding at 2.90% as of today, though there are indications the yield could go lower, given the number of investors seeking a safe place for their money.

So much for the Fed's grand plan to hike interest rates and unload their massive balance sheet into the public sphere. Since they play with make-believe money which they themselves conjured out of thin air, losses don't really matter to them, since they can make it all up with a few kind keystrokes on their magical money-printing computers.

As usual, it's the serfs that will get forty lashes in the form of lower stock prices and higher consumer prices... so, make that 80 lashes.

Dow Jones Industrial Average June Scorecard:

Date	Close	Gain/Loss	Cum. G/L
6/1/18	24,635.21	+219.37	+219.37
6/4/18	24,813.69	+178.48	+397.85
6/5/18	24,799.98	-13.71	+384.14
6/6/18	25,146.39	+346.41	+730.55
6/7/18	25,241.41	+95.02	+825.57
6/8/18	25,316.53	+75.12	+900.69
6/11/18	25,322.31	+5.78	+906.47
6/12/18	25,320.73	-1.58	+904.89
6/13/18	25,201.20	-119.53	+785.36
6/14/18	25,175.31	-25.89	+759.47
6/15/18	25,090.48	-84.83	+674.64
6/18/18	24,987.47	-103.01	+571.63
6/19/18	24,700.21	-287.26	+284.37
6/20/18	24,657.80	-42.41	+241.96
6/21/18	24,461.70	-196.10	+45.86

At the Close, Thursday, June 21, 2018:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 24,461.70, -196.10 (-0.80%)
NASDAQ: 7,712.95, -68.56 (-0.88%)
S&P 500: 2,749.76, -17.56 (-0.63%)
NYSE Composite: 12,560.24, -88.50 (-0.70%)