Barron’s: Stock Market In Rare Mode Of Being Tired And Excited

According to an article on Barron’s by Michael Santoli, the US stock market is in a rare mode of being tired and excited simultaneously. The Standard & Poor's 500 index, which has gained roughly 5% in just over five weeks and has attained its January highs, seems to be losing its buying power. However, the market still retains the excitement beneath the façade of tiredness. Takeover rumors and stock-option lottery tickets are ready to draw investor attention, resulting in surging volumes for financials such as Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM), AIG (NYSE: AIG), Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) and Citigroup (NYSE: C).

The article cites the Mystery Broker, who has called and played the market quite well both down and up in the past few years, as saying that the market may fall by up to 9%, as the market digests its gains a year since the low. The gentleman now owns index puts. He stated that the turbulence in the market will start when economic news is strong all around and end when earnings reports start to come. He, however, does not expect bear sentiments to take hold of the market again.