Dear Clients,
Although the Dow closed down 1.4% at 8,852.22 on Friday, it still ended the week up 4.8%. The gain last week was the Dow's biggest weekly rise in percentage terms since March 2003. While the Dow is not nearly our complete universe, we find it nonetheless remarkable that its best weekly return in over 5 years occurred amidst a barrage of commentaries suggesting economic Armageddon is just around the corner.
To combine the last five days of trading into a single number simplifies the story. On Monday, most stock markets around the world had double-digit percentage gains, only to give most of those returns back over the following two days. By Thursday, the bargain hunters were back, providing a mild gain, and the week closed on Friday with most of the world equity markets giving a little back. All in all, last week, the markets gained about one-half of what they gain in an average year.
Below is a chart of last week's returns for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

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