Thursday, November 13, 2008

Was today the bottom?

Long time veterans of Wall Street believe it is not safe to say the bottom has been reached until the market touches closing price on the worst day a second time and bounces back up. Today, the market did that and ended with a huge 552 bull run. Does that mean the bottom is here and that it is finally safe to invest some of our cash . . . or open our 401(k) statements again?

From a technical standpoint, today didn’t exactly meet the test. While the S&P broke through its previous low, the Dow did not. And, the recovery was sloppy, more like a roller coaster than a rocket. Nonetheless, we are certainly closer to the bottom than the top. When the Dow is again 14,000, will it really matter if we bought in at 7,500 or 8,500?