Now, About That October 2014 S&P Crash
"Adopt a buy-and-hold strategy in a bull market and sell when it loses momentum. And always have an exit strategy in place."
"All through time, people have basically acted and re-acted the same way in the market as a result of: greed, fear, ignorance, and hope – that is why the chart patterns recur on a constant basis."
"The theory that most of the sudden declines or particular sharp breaks are the results of some plunger's operations probably was invented as an easy way of supplying reasons to those speculators who, being nothing but blind gamblers, will believe anything that is told them rather than do a little thinking. The raid excuse for losses that unfortunate speculators so often receive from brokers and financial gossipers is really an inverted tip. The difference lies in this: A bear tip is distinct, positive advice to sell short. But the inverted tip – that is, the explanation that does not explain – serves merely to keep you from wisely selling short. The natural tendency when a stock breaks badly is to sell it. There is a reason – an unknown reason but a good reason; therefore get out. But it is not wise to get out when the break is the result of a raid by an operator, because the moment he stops the price must rebound. Inverted tips!" – Jesse Livermore, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
- a partial unwinding of the Yen Carry trade, with the US Dollar sliding from as high as ¥110 to as low as ¥105.25;
- the sharp slide of the German DAX-30 index to far below key support at the 9,000-level;
- the sharp slide in the S&P's Oil and Gas sector due to sharply lower oil prices; and
- continued weakness in the Russell-2,000 small cap index;
- the release of the Fed's newest tool – the "Dots Matrix" published on Sept 17th and telegraphed a series of baby-step Fed rate hikes, beginning around the middle of next year, to 1.375% by the end of 2015. The Fed also nudged its expected path of interest rate hikes to 2.875% by the end of 2016.