Traders brace for a blowup as cost of protection for U.S. stocks hits highest level since October

The cost of hedging against another equity market blowup has risen to its highest level since October as investors brace for a surge in volatility as U.S. stocks head for their worst week in nearly tw...

Debt-Ceiling Crisis: What Could Happen, According to History

The White House and Congress are locked in a standoff, once again, over whether to raise the debt ceiling—the legislative limit on the total amount of money the federal government is authorized to bor...

Wall Street’s ‘fear gauge’ flashes warning that stocks might be headed off a cliff

Wall Street’s fear gauge has fallen to its lowest level in months, and Wall Street strategists are concerned it could be a warning that the latest stock-market rally is coming to an end. Specifically,...

History shows odds favor a 20% stock-market return in 2023 after a brutal 2022, Fundstrat says

Historical data shows there is a high chance that the U.S. stock market may record a return of 20% or more this year after the three major indexes closed 2022 with their worst annual losses since 2008...

CPI days have been among the most volatile for stocks this year. Here’s what to expect ahead of Tuesday’s report

Many investors are hoping that beaten down U.S. stocks will finish 2022 with a “Santa Claus rally” after the S&P 500 logged back-to-back monthly gains for the first time in more than a year in Oct...

Why stock-market investors shouldn’t count on a ‘Santa Claus’ rally this year

Investors, like kids on Christmas Eve, have come to expect Santa Claus will get down the chimney, march over to Wall Street and deliver the rewarding gift of a stock-market rally. This year, however, ...

Is the Bear Market Over? Stocks Need Just One More Big Drop.

Stocks may be putting this year’s bear market behind them, but history indicates it may take one more downward jolt to end the debacle. There is some positive news. The S&P 500 has gained about 10...

Why Monday’s selloff in the stock market could be the start of the next leg lower

Monday’s punishing selloff could be the beginning of the next leg lower for stocks as a sense of complacency has taken hold in markets following a stellar October and November, several strategists tol...

S&P 500, Nasdaq post worst day in month after strong data fuels worry about Fed rate hikes

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes recorded their worst day in almost a month on Monday, after a hotter-than-expected U.S. services-sector reading fueled concerns that the Federal Reserve ma...

Is the market bottom in? 5 reasons U.S. stocks could continue to suffer heading into next year.

With the S&P 500 holding above 4,000 and the CBOE Volatility Gauge, known as the “Vix” or Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” VIX, +0.74% having fallen to one of its lowest levels of the year, many invest...

Stocks are having a stellar October. Why the bear-market rally may have more room to run.

An earlier version of this story misstated the date of the U.S. midterm elections. They will be held Nov. 8, not Nov. 9. Despite a raft of risky events that investors must face down over the coming we...

The Stock Market Had a Great Week, but It Hasn’t Gone Anywhere in a Month. Inside a Very Volatile Market.

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Liquidity Is Evaporating From the Treasury Market. It’s a Bigger Problem Than Just Bonds.

Treasury-market liquidity is drying up and it’s going to get worse. The problem is bigger than it seems. Liquidity in the U.S. bond market, the world’s largest, has been deteriorating since the Federa...

Here’s how you’ll know stock-market lows are here, says investor who called crash in ’87

“If you think about where we are right now, the Federal Reserve Board is fighting something that it hasn’t seen really in almost four decades, which is inflation. Inflation is a bit like toothpaste: o...

A ‘Fed pivot’ still is the best shot for stocks to rebound

Timing the market has been a nagging question for investors ever since the stock market began its decline by roughly 25% in January this year. The right answer likely hinges on whether or not the Fede...

‘This is not healthy’: The latest advance for stocks could signal more pain ahead for markets. Here’s why

U.S. stocks kicked off the fourth quarter with sharp gains as the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +2.80% appears headed for its biggest two-day rally in more than 2½ years. But as tempting as it mi...

Wall Street’s fear gauge hits highest level since June

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., January 31, 2018. Brendan McDermid | Reuters A measure of fear in stocks just hit the highest level in three months a...

Market Volatility Spells Opportunity for Options-Savvy Investors

Text size American Express stock offers a way to monetize the view that the wealthy won’t be terribly affected by an economic downturn. Nora Tarvus/Dreamstime.com Once again, the stock market is confr...

Dow closes down 1000 points, Nasdaq falls 3.9% after Powell warns of pain to households in inflation battle

U.S. stocks tumbled Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing down more than 1000 points for its worst daily percentage drop since May, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the c...

Expect Two Recessions, and a Quick End to the Fed’s Interest-Rate Hikes

Forward guidance sounds like a great idea. Central bankers should lay out their longer-term goals to influence financial markets. Just as hockey great Wayne Gretzky would skate where the puck was head...

The Stock Market Is Entering Its Weakest Months. What to Watch Out For.

Text size Russia restarted natural-gas flows to Western Europe through Nord Stream 1, but President Vladimir Putin can shut it down again. Olga Maltseva/AFP/Getty Images Bad news on the economy was go...

Stocks Had a Nasty 6 Months. The Second Half Could Be Ugly Too.

Text size Bond markets are pricing in significant additional interest-rate hikes this year, but some stock analysts’ earnings forecasts remain optimistic. Michael Nagle/Bloomberg It was a first half d...

This Rally Could Force the Fed to Raise Rates Higher

The markets make the news, not the other way around, an insight that has been quite humbling to one who has made a living by reporting and analyzing the impact of news on financial markets. Consider t...

The Stock Market Has Avoided a Bear. But the Selloff Isn’t Over

The S&P 500 indexrefuses to fall into a bear market—but that doesn’t mean it’s found a bottom just yet. Not that it wasn’t a painful week. The S&P 500 dropped 3% and has now fallen 18.7% from ...

‘Robinhood’ investors are ‘going to get their heads handed to them,’ as stocks on verge of bear market, says ‘Godfather’ of chart analysis

A bear market for the S&P 500? The stage certainly appears to be set for one, as equity benchmarks bounced around on Friday, posting weekly declines after a whipsawing session. Prominent market te...

How to buy stocks on the brink of a bear market

It seemed like everyone was in a buying mood on Friday, except Elon Musk. The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke a six-day losing streak, the Nasdaq Composite turned in its second positive session in ...

Wall Street’s ‘fear gauge’ still not signaling stock-market bottom is near, analysts say

Stock-market investors have been on a roller-coaster ride, but a closely watched measure of expected volatility has yet to convincingly signal that the selloff is set to bottom out, analysts said Mond...

There Could Be More Downside Ahead for the Stock Market

It could be very difficult for Powell and the Fed to tame inflation without causing an economic slowdown. Photo illustration by Barron’s staff; (reference) Dreamstime (5) Text size Like Winnie t...

The Stock Market Looks Like a Bear. How to Avoid Getting Eaten.

It could be very difficult for Powell and the Fed to tame inflation without causing an economic slowdown. Photo illustration by Barron’s staff; (reference) Dreamstime (5) Text size Like Winnie t...

Scared About the Stock Market’s Drop? That’s Your Signal to Start Buying.

It’s hard to economically describe the current market environment and investor sentiment, but horripilation comes close. The mid-17th century word describes hair standing up on the skin due to cold, f...

These Are Extraordinary Times for Stocks. How to Profit From the Fear.

Text size Traders at the New York Stock Exchange. Spencer Platt/Getty Images Anyone who predicted that a pandemic would be followed by events that might spark World War III is probably in direct commu...

How the stock market ‘fear index’ works

The volatility index, also known as the VIX, essentially takes a reading of the stock market’s blood pressure, measuring investors’ fear. The VIX can spike when investor concerns are heigh...