Dip-Buyers Send Stocks Off Fresh Lows; Cory Booker, Poster Boy For Peak Stupidity

As stocks touched down on some key support levels, investors took the initiative to load up on what they perceived as undervalued shares, sending stocks off morning lows to afternoon highs, with NASDAQ dumb money leading the charge higher.

The major indices were under pressure early in the session, dropping to levels at which the year began, wiping out nearly all of the gains since last December. Call it coincidence or a propensity for chart-watching dip-buying, but there was no other catalyst to Thursday's mini-rally other than valuations.

On the downside, Britain seems to be completely flummoxed by ongoing Brexit negotiations, with resignations in Prime Minister Theresa May's cabinet over the compromise deal presented to the House of Commons this week. Rumors of a no confidence vote are circulating as the Brexit issue continues to derail any progress England can make in extricating itself from the European Union. The referendum, passed in early 2016, called for an exit by March of 2019, though that date now appears less certain. The issues are complex and threaten to tear the country apart.

In a completely unrelated note, America has finally achieved PEAK STUPIDITY, and its poster boy is the senator from New Jersey, Cory Booker.

Booker's proposal for "Baby Bonds" as a way to shrink the wealth gap is about as far left an approach as could be considered... without laughing.

Booker's idea is to give every newborn $1000 at birth and up to another $2000 every year thereafter - based on the parents' income, of course - until that child reaches the age of 18, or, in other words, just in time to take out a government-funded student loan, or, pay for maybe a few years of college themselves.

It's just this kind of insanity that American citizens have to endure from its government that causes angst, apathy, or confrontation between liberals and conservatives. The US has had a massive welfare program in place - that rewards having more children with higher benefits - for more than 50 years, and it's done nothing to reduce poverty or improve living conditions for chronically poor people.

With people like Booker being elected and re-elected to high government positions of power, is there any wonder why the United States are so disunited?

Despite the higher close on Thursday, investors should not be enthusiastic about an extension to the short-term rally which was likely the result more of short-covering and corporate buybacks than the actual taking of new positions in stocks. Sentiment remains murky with a bias to the downside.

Dow Jones Industrial Average November Scorecard:

Date	Close	Gain/Loss	Cum. G/L
11/1/18	25,380.74	+264.98	+264.98
11/2/18	25,270.83	-109.91	+155.07
11/5/18	25,461.70	+190.87	+345.94
11/6/18	25,635.01	+173.31	+519.25
11/7/18	26,180.30	+545.29	+1064.54
11/8/18	26,191.22	+10.92	+1075.46
11/9/18	25,989.30	-201.92	+873.54
11/12/18	25,387.18	-602.12	+271.42
11/13/18	25,286.49	-100.69	+170.27
11/14/18	25,080.50	-205.99	-35.72
11/15/18	25,289.27	+208.77	+173.05

At the Close, Thursday, November 15, 2018:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 25,289.27, +208.77 (+0.83%)
NASDAQ: 7,259.03, +122.64 (+1.72%)
S&P 500: 2,730.20, +28.62 (+1.06%)
NYSE Composite: 12,361.52, +86.03 (+0.70%)