As a commodities trader I rarely dabble in equities, other than the ole 401k and IRA. But it behooves traders in any market to pay attention to activity in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), S&P 500 Index (SPX) and NASDAQ Composite Index (Nasdaq) as they can be a harbinger of demand for energy and raw materials down the road. So, as of the close of trading today, the DJIA is down over 1,000 points, the SPX down 160, two-and-half and 3% declines respectively. For the DJIA, this represents a roughly 6% decline from last month’s all-time high and 8 1/2% for the SPX. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is down almost 3 1/2% today, compounding a 13% retracement from its all-time high, which is more interesting, and concerning.
So what’s happening? Several factors seem to be at play here. Some fundamental, some international, some even psychological.
First the fundamentals. The Nasdaq has…
