Market Frenzy May Be Over

By: Zachary Pienkowski

Recent studies and trends have shown that the utter chaos that has been the stock market over the last year and a half may be over. On September 29, 2008 the market took its largest point drop in history after the news that congress had rejected the $700 billion stimulus plan for our downward spiraling economy. While some thought the eventual approval of this plan would help calm the storm, the stock market continued to take a large number of plunges throughout 2008. Even when things appeared to be turning around and financial analysts and economists urged people to invest, they were still extremely hesitant because investors were unwilling to lose what they had left. Many people saw their retirement pools that took 30 years to accumulate nearly cut in half in a matter of months. Since late August of 2009, the lack of volatility in the market has been an encouraging sign for investors, as well as small but steady increases in the Dow and S&P 500. Strategists attribute this period of recovery to the lack of volatility in the markets and a return to normalcy in the credit markets as well. A large number of Americans are still concerned though because the national unemployment rate is near 10% and and companies that are showing profits are mostly doing so by significantly cutting costs and laying off workers. This may lead to smaller profits reported and investors having to comes to terms with the idea that we may not see a market like we had before the collapse for a long time. This may not necessarily be a bad thing though because it should result in a more stable economy in the long run.

Sources:

http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/28/markets/thebuzz/index.htm
http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/29/markets/thebuzz/index.htm
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Drop-in-consumer-confidence-apf-1913425646.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=