Weekend Wrap: Dow Slammed, Wiping Out August Gains

Against the backdrop of news that Turkey's lira was crashing against foreign currencies, stocks were hammered lower in nearly every market around the world Friday, the hardest hit regionally being Germany's DAX (-1.99%), Brazil's Ibovesta (-2.86%), and Japan's NIKKEI 255 (-1.33%).

The lira, Turkey's official currency fell 20% on Friday, a dramatic move seldom seen in FX markets.

The American bourses being the last to finish out the week, the results were expectably negative, though not nearly approaching the levels seen in Europe and Asia.

The decline was, however, significant enough to send three of the four major US indices to weekly losses. For the Dow, S&P, and NASDAQ Composite, this week ended a string of five consecutive winners. The NASDAQ posted its fourth gain in the past six weeks. Even though Friday's 52-point loss on the NAZ was harrowing, the tech-laden index still closed within 100 points of its all-time high.

The issue of Turkey's lira crashing is made all the more intriguing by its geographical location, at the nexus of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. With a population of 80 million, the diverse ethnicity of its population has trended more toward Islam in recent years, troubling to the visionaries of the greater world's economies, especially since it is a NATO ally and member of the European Union, though it does not share the common euro currency.

Some European banks with heavy exposure may be at risk from the turmoil in the crossroads nation, though the financial concerns run side by side with political and military issues.

While stocks took a hit, the US dollar was bolstered, rising to 96.27, its highest level in over a year. That reaction translated to lower prices for crude oil. Gold and silver, along with other commodities, trended lower. Gold closed out the week at 1,219.20. Silver ended at 15.28, trending at levels not seen in two years.

In a general sense, the week served as a reminder to traders that despite optimistic sentiment, troubling, nettlesome issues are bubbling up just beneath the superficial veneer of global economies.

Dow Jones Industrial Average August Scorecard:

Date	Close	Gain/Loss	Cum. G/L
8/1/18	25,333.82	-81.37	-81.37
8/2/18	25,326.16	-7.66	-89.03
8/3/18	25,462.58	+136.42	+55.05
8/6/18	25,502.18	+39.60	+94.65
8/7/18	25,628.91	+126.73	+221.38
8/8/18	25,583.75	-45.16	+176.22
8/9/18	25,509.23	-74.52	+101.70
8/10/18	25,313.14	-196.09	-94.39

At the Close, Friday, August 10, 2018:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 25,313.14, -196.09 (-0.77%)
NASDAQ: 7,839.11, -52.67 (-0.67%)
S&P 500: 2,833.28, -20.30 (-0.71%)
NYSE Composite: 12,843.49, -113.17 (-0.87%)

For the Week:
Dow: -149.44 (-0.59%)
NASDAQ: +27.10 (+0.35%)
S&P 500: -7.07 (-0.25%)
NYSE Composite: -109.85 (-0.85%)