Holiday Havoc: Why December turned into a tough time for investors
{Note: all the sources listed
in the “Balanced” section}
December has become a roller coaster for investors. They’ve seen the VIX (CBOE Volatility Index) rose over 47% between December 17th to December 24th. That’s on top of concerns over trade tensions between the United States and China, tightening financial conditions, a worsening outlook for corporate earnings growth in 2019, and the possibility the yield curve is inverting, which is widely seen as a potential harbinger of recession, all have combined to create the market’s greatest fear: Uncertainty.
As of Thursday’s market close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 14% from its peak in October, and all other U.S. stock markets are now in, or near, bear territory.