~Investors are still hoping the U.S. stock market can eventually stabilize after a horrific start to the year last week, when the Dow tumbled 6.2%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 6% and the broad market, as measured by the Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index, suffered a paper loss of $1.5 trillion. To my way of thinking, the markets are simply adjusting to life without Fed intervention, which means that for the first time in years risk is being repriced based on underlying fundamentals—the way it should be.
~The energy sector took the hardest hit as oil prices tumbled further and briefly fell below $31/barrel. U.S. crude slid 5.7% to $31.29 a barrel and is at the lowest level since 2003. ~ Neal Bhai Reports