In this very brief blog post I will offer some perspective about how bad today's market action was and what it may mean going forward. First, here are the stats.
Of the 1,505 stocks in the S&P 1500 Composite index, only 78 were up today, while 1,422 were down and 5 were unchanged. Put another way, for every stock that was up, there were 18 that were down. That's a big deal, historically speaking.
There are now 1,010 stocks (67.1% of the index) that are in a bear market. One could argue that we are already in a bear market, but this index is cap-weighted and the official number is -18.2%.
Top 5 and bottom 5 industries year-to-date
As has been the case all year, coal, oil, steel, and agribusiness companies dominate the industry leader board. Software and semiconductors are suffering from the growth recession in tech. Soaps and apparel are down with retail stocks, and home furnishings are down along with the slowdown in new construction.
Top and bottom Industries in terms of their drawdowns from 52 week highs are next on the agenda.
The 52 biggest 1-day declines since 1950
Final thoughts
As I've been saying for months now, I think we have more work to do on the downside before the bottom is reached. We may be close, and it makes sense to me to get ready for the turn now, rather than waiting until the market is on the way back up.
There are plenty of good quality stocks that are selling for big discounts right now, such as HIBB, EPAM, MED, RCII, and ZYXI to name a few. Whichever stocks you pick, I suggest layering into positions over a period of weeks, if not months. And I use price alerts to get me out if an idea isn't working, rather than stop orders entered with a broker.