A wobbly day of trading on Wall Street ended with a mixed finish for U.S. stock indexes Tuesday as markets stagger amid worries about a possible recession.

The volatile trading comes a day after a broad sell-off sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average into a bear market, joining other major U.S. indexes.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.2%, its sixth consecutive loss. The benchmark index had been up 1.7% in the early going before a midafternoon pullback. The Dow fell 0.4%, while the Nasdaq composite wound up with a 0.2% gain.

Major indexes remain in an extended slump. With just a few days left in September, stocks are heading for another losing month as markets fear that the higher interest rates being used to fight inflation could knock the economy into a recession.

“The market right now is pricing in slower growth in the near term because of higher interest rates and inflation that’s been persistently hotter for longer than expected,” said Lindsey Bell, chief markets and money strategist at Ally Invest.

The S&P 500 fell 7.75 points to 3,647.29. The Dow dropped 125.82 points to 29,134.99. The Nasdaq rose 26.58 points to 10,829.50.

The S&P 500 is down roughly 8% in September and has been in a bear market since June, when it had fallen more than 20% below its all-time high set on Jan. 4. The Dow’s drop on Monday put it in the same company as the benchmark index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Central banks around the world have been raising interest rates in an effort to make borrowing more expensive and cool the hottest inflation in decades. The Federal Reserve has been particularly aggressive and raised its benchmark rate, which affects many consumer and business loans, again last week. It now sits at a range of 3% to 3.25%. It was at virtually zero at the start of the year.

The Fed also released a forecast suggesting its benchmark rate could be 4.4% by the year’s end, a full percentage point higher than it envisioned in June.

Wall Street is worried that the Fed will hit the brakes too hard on an already slowing economy and veer it into a recession. The higher interest rates have been weighing on stocks, especially pricier technology companies, which tend to look less attractive to investors as rates rise.

Losses in household goods makers, communications companies and utilities stocks outweighed gains elsewhere in the market. Procter & Gamble fell 2.7%, Disney lost 2.3% and Edison International fell 2.9%.

Energy stocks gained ground as U.S. oil prices rose 2.3%. Exxon Mobil rose 2.1%.

Small company stocks held up better than the broader market. The Russell 2000 added 6.63 points, or 0.4%, to close at 1,662.51.

Bond yields were mostly higher Tuesday. The yield on the 2-year Treasury, which tends to follow expectations for Federal Reserve action, fell to 4.31% from 4.34% late Monday. It is trading at its highest level since 2007. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, rose to 3.98% from 3.93%.

Fears of a recession have grown as inflation remains stubbornly hot. Investors will be watching the next round of corporate earnings very closely to get a better sense of how companies are dealing with inflation. Companies will begin reporting their latest quarterly results in early October.

Investors are also closely watching the latest economic updates. Consumer confidence remains strong, despite higher prices on everything from food to clothing. The latest consumer confidence report for September from The Conference Board showed that confidence was even stronger than expected by economists.

The government will release its weekly report on unemployment benefits on Thursday, along with an updated report on second-quarter gross domestic product. On Friday, the government will release another report on personal income and spending that will help provide more details on where and how inflation is hurting consumer spending.

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Stocks on Wall Street shook off an afternoon slide and finished modestly higher Wednesday, clawing back some of their losses a day after the market’s worst skid in two years.

The wobbly trading came as investors weighed another snapshot of inflation. Markets have been on edge about the possibility of a recession after a string of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve this year as the central bank fights inflation.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% after wavering between small gains and losses much of the afternoon. The benchmark index was coming off its biggest drop since June 2020, which ended a four-day winning streak.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.1% higher, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.7%. Smaller company stocks also rose, pushing the Russell 2000 to a 0.4% gain.

Bond yields remained relatively stable after leaping higher on Tuesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury rose to 3.79% from 3.75% late Tuesday, when it soared on expectations for more aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which helps dictate where mortgages and rates for other loans are heading, held steady at 3.41%.

A report on inflation at the wholesale level showed prices are still rising rapidly, with pressures building underneath the surface, even if overall inflation slowed. It echoed a report on inflation at the consumer level Tuesday, which raised expectations for interest-rate hikes and triggered a rout for markets.

Still, the overall decline in inflation at the wholesale level helped assuage fears in the market that inflation at all levels is intensifying, said Quincy Krosby, chief equity strategist for LPL Financial.

“The market would have probably had another round of selling had the headline number been higher,” Krosby said. “The fact that it dipped a bit was helpful for today’s market.”

Traders now see a one-in-four chance the Fed may hike its benchmark rate by a full percentage point next week, quadruple the usual move, according to CME Group. A day earlier, it was closer to a one-in-three chance. The site puts the probability of a three-quarter percentage point increase now at 76%, up from 69% on Tuesday.

The central bank has already raised its benchmark interest rate four times this year, with the last two increases by three-quarters of a percentage point.

The Fed is taking the aggressive action on interest rates to try and cool the hottest inflation in four decades. Tuesday’s report on high prices jolted the market with signs that inflation is entering a more stubborn phase that could require an already resolute Fed to become more aggressive.

Wall Street is especially worried that the rate hikes could go too far in slowing the economy and send it into a recession. The Fed is trying to avoid that outcome, but the latest inflation reports reveal that is becoming a more difficult task.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 13.32 points to 3,946.01, while the Dow added 30.12 points to 31,135.09. The Nasdaq gained 86.10 points to 11,719.68, and the Russell 2000 picked up 6.89 points to close at 1,838.46.

Energy stocks had some of the biggest gains as U.S. crude oil prices rose 1.3%. Exxon Mobil rose 2.5%.

“Today you have some investors coming off the sidelines, coming back into the market because there’s this feeling that the sell-off was a big one, there was a recalibration there, there was a little bit of panic selling there,” said Sylvia Jablonski, chief investment officer at Defiance ETFs.

The broader U.S. economy has been slowing, but consumers have remained resilient and the job market remains strong. Wall Street will get another update on inflation’s latest impact on spending when the government releases its retail sales report for August on Thursday.

The market is also monitoring U.S.-China tensions and war in Ukraine, while business and government officials are bracing for the possibility of a nationwide rail strike at the end of this week that could paralyze an already discombobulated supply chain.

The railroads have already started to curtail shipments of hazardous materials and have announced plans to stop hauling refrigerated products ahead of Friday’s strike deadline. Businesses that rely on Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, BNSF, CSX, Kansas City Southern and other railroads to deliver their raw materials and finished products are planning for the worst.

Union Pacific fell 3.7% and Norfolk Southern fell 2.2%.

Biden administration officials are scrambling to develop a plan to keep goods moving if the railroads shut down. The White House is also pressuring the two sides to settle their differences, and a growing number of business groups are lobbying Congress to be prepared to intervene and block a strike if they can’t reach an agreement.

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Another broad stock market sell-off on Monday deepened Wall Street’s losses from last week, leaving the S&P 500 with its biggest slide since mid-June.

The benchmark index fell 2.1%, nearly doubling its losses from last week, when it broke a four-week winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 1.9% and the Nasdaq dropped 2.5%.

Technology companies and retailers had some of the heaviest losses. Smaller company stocks also lost ground, pulling the Russell 2000 index 2.1% lower.

The latest market slide comes as investors grapple with uncertainty over when the highest inflation in decades will ease significantly, how much will the Federal Reserve have to raise interest rates in order to get it under control and how much will the rate hikes slow the economy.

Wall Street will be looking for insight into these unknowns later this week, when the Federal Reserve holds its annual meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

“Volatility spiked as investors are increasingly nervous about what they might hear from officials at the Fed’s upcoming Jackson Hole symposium,” said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for LPL Financial.

The S&P 500 fell 90.49 points to 4,137.99. The Dow lost 643.13 points to close at 33,063.61, while the Nasdaq fell 323.64 points to 12,381.57. The Russell 2000 gave up 41.60 points to 1,915.74.

Some 95% of the stocks in the S&P 500 fell. Technology companies, retailers, banks and communications services stocks accounted for a big share of the index’s slide. Microsoft fell 2.9% and Target fell 3%. JPMorgan dropped 1.7% and Netflix slid 6.1%.

Movie theater operators also fell in choppy trading following news that Cineworld is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The industry is still struggling to recover from the virus pandemic. AMC Entertainment fell 5.5% and Cinemark fell 5.8%.

Bright spots in the market included Signify Health, which jumped 32.1% after The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon would bid for the company.

Bond yields gained ground. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences rates on home mortgages and other loans, rose to 3.03% from 2.97% late Friday.

The broader market’s losses come on the heels of a weekslong rally. Investors are trying to figure out where the economy goes from here as stubbornly hot inflation hurts businesses and consumers. Record-high inflation also has investors focusing on central banks and their efforts to fight high prices without further damaging economic growth.

“You’ve had quite a rally and there’s reason to not be sure where we’re going from here,” said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager with Globalt Investments. “There’s still decent potential for a recession.”

Minutes last week from the Federal Reserve’s July board meeting affirmed plans for more rate hikes despite signs of weaker economic activity. Traders worry aggressive steps to slow the economy might go too far and bring on a recession. The U.S. economy has already contracted through the first half of 2022 and Wall Street will get more information on Thursday when the government releases an updated report on the U.S. economy for the second quarter.

Investors are also looking ahead to this week’s Federal Reserve conference for signals about more possible U.S. rate hikes to cool surging inflation. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to give a speech on Friday morning at the central bank’s annual meeting in Jackson Hole, which starts Thursday.

The Fed is holding its meeting following a heavy week of company and economic data that showed inflation is still squeezing the economy, but consumer spending remains resilient. Falling gasoline and food commodity prices, for wheat and corn, have helped relieve some of that pressure. That helped essentially stall inflation’s advance in July, though prices still remain stubbornly high.

“I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet on inflation,” Martin said. “We still don’t really know how inflation is going to pan out and what the Fed is going to do.”

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Stock indexes on Wall Street ended with meager gains Tuesday, as a late-afternoon rally led by technology companies stemmed the market’s losses after an early slump.

The S&P eked out a gain of 0.2% after having been down 2.2% earlier in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite closed 1.7% higher.

The weak opening, which followed a long weekend for the Independence Day holiday, came about as the price of U.S. crude oil fell sharply, eventually settling below $100 a barrel for the first time since early May. Bond yields also fell, a sign traders were seeking less risky assets.

Energy, industrial, health care and most of the 11 sectors in the S&P 500 ended in the red, despite the late-day rally in technology stocks, communication firms and retailers and other companies that rely on direct consumer spending.

The volatility reflects growing worries among investors that the economy is slowing under the weight of surging inflation and sharply higher interest rates, pressures that could tip the economy into a recession.

“The market is really taking the growth slowdown as the primary driver today,” said Paul Kim, CEO of Simplified Asset Management. “So you’re seeing a modest sell-off in risk assets, but a significant sell-off in oil, energy, commodities tied to growth, as well as a a modest drop in yields.”

The S&P 500 rose 6.06 points to 3,831.39. The Nasdaq rose 194.39 points to 3,831.39. The Dow Jones Industrial Average remained in the red, losing 129.44 points to 30,967.82.

Small-company stocks also bounced back after a downbeat start. The Russell 2000 rose 13.57 points, or 0.8%, to 1,741.33.

European markets fell broadly.

Stocks remain in a slump that pulled the S&P 500 into a bear market last month, meaning an extended decline of 20% or more from a recent peak. The market’s performance in the first half of 2022 was the worst since the first six months of 1970.

Inflation has been squeezing businesses and consumers throughout the year, but tightened its grip after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. The invasion sent oil prices higher globally and sent gasoline prices in the U.S. to record highs. That prompted a pullback in spending from consumers struggling with higher prices on everything from food to clothing.

Lockdowns in China from rising COVID-19 cases have also made supply chain problems worse.

Central banks have been raising interest rates in an attempt to temper inflation. The Federal Reserve has been aggressive in its shift from historically low interest rates at the height of the pandemic to unusually big rate increases. But, that has raised concerns that the central bank could go too far in raising rates and hitting the brakes too hard on economic growth, which could bring on a recession.

Wall Street has been closely watching the latest economic updates for more clues on how inflation is impacting the economy and whether that could shift the Fed’s position on rate hikes. Wall Street will get a closer look at the employment market on Friday when the the government releases employment data for June.

Investors are also looking ahead to the next round of corporate earnings for a clearer picture of inflation’s impact. Several big companies recently warned that their financial results are being squeezed by inflation, including spice and seasonings maker McCormick.

Technology and communication stocks staged a turnaround and ended higher Tuesday. Apple rose 1.9% and Facebook parent Meta climbed 5.1%. Home Depot rose 1.7%, one of several big retailers that gained ground.

Energy companies had some of the biggest losses as the price of U.S. crude oil slumped 8.2% to $99.50 a barrel. That’s the lowest price since May 10, when it settled at $96.87 a barrel. Exxon Mobil fell 3.1% and Hess dropped 6.8%.

Banks fell along with bond yields. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which helps set mortgage rates, fell to 2.82% from 2.90% late Friday. Bank of America dropped 1%.

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In an effort to close the gap in civil disputes, the State Bar of California – the agency that licenses and regulates attorneys – recently released two recommendations. One would allow software companies to market tech platforms for self-resolution of legal disputes such as divorce. The other would license a new category of legal paraprofessionals with less legal training than attorneys or paralegals and allow them to practice law without attorney supervision, which is something paralegals can’t do.

After 15 years providing free legal services to clients with low incomes, I know the barriers to justice in California. I also know the pitfalls of allowing unregulated industries to exploit vulnerable Californians for profit. By inviting Californians to waste good money on bad legal services, the State Bar is dignifying a failure of justice we should all be fighting.

The State Bar is alarmingly off target because its recommendations ignore two of the biggest findings from its own “ Justice Gap” study . Most Californians don’t know when a problem is a legal problem. And, many have concerns about the cost of legal representation. These are tremendous issues impacting our legal system, and they remain unaddressed by the State Bar.

Technology can be a helpful tool to increase access to the courts. Developed through a collaboration of attorneys, a range of organizations and UCLA’s School of Public Affairs, the online Tenant Power Toolkit assists tenants with legal documents and connects them to legal help. However, allowing tech companies and venture capitalists to turn justice into a profit-making scheme is not legal innovation. Their cost of doing business will be too steep to offer affordable legal services for families on the margins.

Just as someone representing themselves in court is no match for an attorney, retaining a paraprofessional is also a gamble. Paraprofessionals would have restrictions on court appearances, which ignores the crucial stage where legal assistance is most needed and entrenches the current inequity in our courts – self-represented litigants vs. an attorney.

Even worse, both of the State Bar’s recommendations threaten the integrity of our legal system by allowing the provision of legal services by tech companies and paraprofessionals without legal expertise while exempting them from the ethical and fiduciary requirements governing attorney-client relationships. This startling omission reveals consumer welfare is merely an afterthought.

State lawmakers and Attorney General Rob Bonta have criticized the State Bar’s recommendations because it’s clear they will deepen the divides in our legal system. Alternatives that actually increase access to justice – including the expansion of online hearings, digital court records for convenient access, and sliding-scale fee legal services by provisionally licensed attorneys and attorney-supervised paraprofessionals – must be considered.

Innovative methods to close the justice gap are sorely needed, which is why legal service organizations push for increased access to justice through proposals like electronic court services, increased funding for legal aid and a right to counsel in civil matters such as guardianship and eviction, regardless of a person’s income. A coalition of 24 legal service organizations outlined several alternatives and improvements for the State Bar to consider.

As we see it, the more attorneys and advocates working on family law issues, evictions, elder law, wage disputes and guardianship, the better.

Ultimately, the State Bar’s recommendations invite disaster for consumers who are least able to recover from substandard legal services – seniors, non-native English speakers and low-income communities of color. Vulnerable Californians need justice, and they deserve an equal shot instead of being set up to fail.

Lorraine López is a senior attorney at the Western Center on Law and Poverty.

Lorraine López | Contributed

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“Despite the uncertainties of the pandemic, the housing market performed well in the second half of 2020,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Low mortgage rates and the ability to work remotely continued to propel demand for housing, which is reflected in home sales reaching levels not seen in 15 years.” Whether you’re a potential homebuyer, a current homeowner or considering selling, here are some of the biggest takeaways of Freddie Mac’s Quarterly Forecast: • Interest rates are likely to remain low.

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) hit a record low over a dozen times in 2020. The low interest rate environment is projected to continue through 2021, with the 30-year FRM expected to average below 3 percent. Low rates are good news for buyers looking to purchase a home, and homeowners looking to reduce their mortgage payment through refinancing. • Home sales to remain high.

The demand for housing is expected to remain strong in 2021, creating a favorable market for sellers. Last year, low mortgage rates and the ability to work remotely drove up home sales (the measure of the number of homes sold every month). This year, home sales are expected to ride that wave, averaging 6.5 million for the year. • House prices to grow moderately.

In the second half of 2020, the high volume of home sales and low supply of housing drove up house prices. In 2021, house price growth is expected to moderate for the full year. • Refinances to start declining. Low mortgage rates spurred refinance activity in 2020, boosting mortgage originations (the process in which borrowers apply for a home loan) to historic highs.

As mortgage rates rise modestly in 2021, refinance activity should start to slow. “While many homeowners took advantage of these low rates in last year, evidence suggests that many lower income homeowners still have the opportunity to strengthen their financial position by refinancing,” says Khater. For more insights on housing, visit freddiemac.com/research. For homebuying and homeownership resources, visit My Home by Freddie Mac.

Many of the trends that shaped the market last year, especially historically low mortgage rates, will continue to drive housing activity in 2021. As you embark on your journey towards your home goals, be sure to have a firm understanding of today’s market conditions.

StatePoint • Contributed

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Numerous second-home markets are showing a climb in sales. For example, the Sierra Tahoe MLS reported its highest residential dollar volume on record in July, a 200% annual increase. Pending home sales in Bend, Ore., also jumped 150% annually in July. On the opposite side of the country, in the popular second-home market of Rehoboth Beach, Del., sales also have doubled on an annual basis.

“The psychology of ‘you only live once,’ or YOLO, is driving the surge in second-home sales,” according to a recent article posted by John Burns Real Estate Consulting. “Households who may have otherwise waited have decided now is the time to buy, often using funds that would otherwise be allocated to more traditional vacation travel. Today’s buyers are showing more interest in lifestyle and use than rental potential and future appreciation.”

The firm reports that many second-home buyers—most notably those with young school-age children—are looking for properties that are less than four hours from their primary residence. “They desire a getaway to ‘invest in family,’ as well as a place of refuge for the future,” John Burns Real Estate Consulting notes.

Prior to the pandemic, second homes were considered more for a weekend getaway, but now homeowners may be looking at these properties to enjoy for longer periods of time. If parents are working remotely and children are learning remotely, the needs for that second home may be differing, too. With longer stays in mind, buyers of second homes may place greater emphasis on ensuring high-speed internet, home offices, and learning spaces for their children, John Burns Real Estate Consulting reports.

–National Association of Realtors

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The central bank is acting as a buyer of last resort and propping up the bond market in the most efficient manner possible.

The Federal Reserve on Monday announced a fresh round of stimulus designed to calm markets and buffer the hit to the economy from the Coronavirus pandemic. Among other steps, the Fed said it would buy exchange-traded funds that track the corporate bond market, a first for the U.S. central bank.

“This will provide much-needed liquidity to the bond market and to ETFs,” said Todd Rosenbluth, head of ETF and mutual fund research at CFRA.

Financial markets have been pummeled over the past few weeks. The global oil market has been collapsing just as a virulent pandemic sweeps the world, sapping resources and shutting down economies. Investors across all kinds of markets are racing to “sell everything.”

But the dysfunction may be particularly acute in the market for more highly rated corporate bonds, which aren’t as risky as “high-yield,” or junk-rated, bonds. Investors aren’t used to contemplating such a massive wave of defaults and bankruptcies as the one that might be upon us as companies from cruise ship operators to oil pipeline operators face near zero cash flow.

“All of this is to make sure that people who want to sell have a buyer,” explained Steve Blitz, chief U.S. economist for TS Lombard. “The Fed is taking both sides of the market so people who need to raise cash can do so.”

In large part, the Fed is using ETFs to accomplish this goal because it’s harder to buy individual bonds than stock positions. “ETFs offer the benefits of impacting thousands of bonds in one trade,” Rosenbluth told MarketWatch.

As a second step, Rosenbluth and others think the Fed’s tiptoe may help calm parts of the ETF ecosphere, which has been rattled by record outflows, not just the bond market. For one example, as previously reported, the big investment-grade corporate-bond fund iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF LQD, +7.39%, closed on one particularly volatile day about 5% lower than the stated value of its holdings. That means anyone who tried to sell LQD on Thursday received about 95% of what they might have expected. A powerful market stabilizer like the central bank may help buffer strains like those.

On Monday, after the Fed’s announcement, LQD had gained about 6% and a competitor, Vanguard’s Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond Fund VCIT, +5.42%, was about 5% higher.

But Dave Nadig, chief investment officer and research director for ETF Flows, noted in a blog post Monday morning that the Fed’s purchases won’t help with the challenges facing bond ETFs right now. ETF issuers rely on third-party bond pricing services to help them determine pricing for bonds, which don’t trade frequently under normal circumstances, let alone in a crisis. Those services, often seen as imperfect despite being the best option available, help inform the price of the fund itself.

In the current trading environment, Rosenbluth told MarketWatch, “this is a bad environment for trading execution because things are happening so fast that it’s hard to assess fair value.”

Expectations of climbing corporate defaults are adding to the strain. On Friday, the U.S. junk-bond market’s main benchmark, the ICE BofA U.S. High Yield Index, ended the day’s session in distressed territory at 1,009 basis points over Treasurys, according to Marty Fridson, chief investment officer at Lehmann, Livian, Fridson Advisors.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs analysts on Friday said they anticipate high-yield defaults to spike to 13% by year-end, even with the Federal Reserve’s revival of crisis-era facilities to pump liquidity into financial markets.

They also pointed out that bond-fund outflows have been driven by ETFs and expect the corporate bond market to remain challenging, “which may result in persistent ETF outflows in the near term.”

Of note, the Fed last week excluded ETFs and other types of assets from being used as collateral when it rolled out a new Primary Dealer Credit Facility to arm key dealers of securities on Wall Street with low-cost loans to jump-start trading again and to boost liquidity.

Still, many observers are applauding the Fed’s commitment to doing what it can to assuage the battering of the financial markets. “While Congress fiddles, Fed continues to get it done,” wrote Chris Low, chief economist for FHN Financial, on Monday morning after the Fed’s announcement.

More to the point, as Blitz notes, “How we got here is ten years of successive liquidity pumped into the market, forcing money into risk assets, building up the economy through financial asset inflation because the real side of the economy didn’t come along to the same extent. The Fed created this monster so it has to be on the other side of it now.”

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Kotyuk’s ECONOMY REVIEW

Real numbers being released in China started a risk of attitude in the market. Following this news broke that South Korea had new cases which has now jumped to 1,146 cases and 11 deaths. A U.S. soldier stationed in South Korea has tested positive. Also, Iran reported infections which are the highest death toll outside of China. In Europe, several countries have announced their first Coronavirus cases, with all appearing to be linked to the growing outbreak in Italy. Austria, Croatia Switzerland said the cases involved people who had been to Italy, as did Algeria and Africa. The first positive virus test has been recorded in Latin American, a Brazilian who just returned from Italy. Italy now has 300 cases and 11 deaths. This news crashed Wall Streets’ bull market party.

Monday and Tuesday, the market fell nearly 7% in total with the S&P500 lost an estimated $1.737 trillion value in two days. Riskier assets are being fled amid intense fears over a possible global slowdown over the deadly Coronavirus. The two-day loss was the largest since August of 2015. This also saw the 10-year Treasury note fell to a record low of 1.32%. Health officials at the Center for Disease Control stated it was “likely” to continue to spread throughout the United States and the American public should “prepare for the expectation that is going to be bad.”

It is clear that investors are clearly expecting more bad news and rather than wait for it to come, they are selling now to keep the powder dry. Signs were evident that electronics and the auto industries that the slowdown is already happening, which will be a drag on growth. Investors have raced into bonds for safety. Early this year, I discussed SARS and this same pattern possibly happening. The market should reverse once news breaks that the virus has been contained. For now, though, it appears to have turned into a Pandemic. The next resistance level is around 3,000 for the S&P500. Once it breaks through that, the next level is 2850.

Hopefully, you are prepared and have taken my warnings to rebalance and take profits, followed by parking some of it in bonds, other safe havens or negatively correlated positions. Keep to your game plan here and don’t get emotional. Rotate your dry power and profits back into key positions at the prices you have identified. Those prices should be sale prices and it may be too early to do so right now. That’s okay. Wait. Let the market come to you.

As you may or may not know, after a long party, a hangover takes time to go away and it usually gets worse before it gets better. I always enjoy being the one without a hangover and having a productive day while the suffering is going on.

If you have questions on a particular company or investment and would like our feedback, contact us at my email below. Our team will research and respond to you with our recommendation and opinion.

Andrew F. Kotyuk, CIMA* is CEO and Principal of Alpha Wealth Management LLC. For questions or investment topics please email me afkotyuk@alpha-wealth.com.

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Local artisans and vendors excited by turnout

“We are very excited with the success of our first two weeks. There’s lots of foot traffic which is a good sign,” says Matt McPherson owner of the building and lot at 135 E. Florida (corner of Florida Avenue and Harvard Street), in Hemet. “We also have restroom facilities and other markets don’t offer that. We’re also looking at changing our hours to accommodate even more patrons.”

The entire lot and both corners were covered with vendors selling specialties from food to handmade soaps to quilts, handmade knitted items and even hand-honed walking sticks.

“We are very happy with our sales and with the exposure that we’ve been getting for our soap products,” said Carrie Coelho of Bad Cat Creations, adding, “We will soon be adding a line of body lotions to our family of handmade products.”

Katie-Jane Martinez, owner of Loopy Jones designs, handmade crocheted products, is just as excited. “This has been a very positive experience. We’re actually trying to branch out into new markets by bringing in new items, especially those for little children. Our sales have been very brisk and, because we are local artisans and work year ’round, we are able to switch products from season to season and holiday to holiday to holiday.” Martinez adds that owner McPherson has very accommodating. “Matt has been very cooperative and has gone out of his way to make this a success.”

Walking the rows and rows of stalls one sees a very impressive array of artisans and local business owners. “Ours was a short but hard learning curve,“ said Drew and Michelle Thomas of Stoic Woodcraft. “We began by doing hand-painted signs, but they didn’t sell well,” said Drew, adding “we studied, viewed videos and before long, my wife and I knew how to specially prep and paint these ferring strips to give them what I call a, “battle worn” look. Most everything we do now is special order.” Wife Michelle adds, “My husband works on all the flags and I do all of the specialty collectibles and wall and door plaques.“

For Marsha of SOAPossible, soap-making is as much a family business as it is a learning tool. “We home-school our children, and making soap is learning tool for our two girls, Lana and Audrey. Making soap teaches them chemistry, weights & measures, temperatures and mathematics. It’s a family tradition, a family business and a teaching opportunity all in one.”

Those interested in vending or attending may contact the Market at 951 315-7914

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