by James Rickards
Daily Reckoning
The stock market has topped out and is headed down.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average peaked at 45,014 on December 4, 2024, and was at 41,911 by March 10, 2025, down 3,101 points or 6.9% in just over three months.
The S&P 500 Index peaked at 6,130 on February 18, 2025, and was at 5,614 on March 10, 2025, down 516 points or 8.4% in less than one month.
The NASDAQ Composite Index peaked at 20,174 on December 16, 2024, and was at 17,468 on March 7, 2025, down 2,706 points or 13.4% in less than three months and technically a market “correction” (defined as a 10% or more decline from a previous peak).
None of those index performances is a full-blown crash nor do they represent a market panic. Stock market indices are volatile, and they may partially bounce back by the time you read this. Still, down is down. We have to look at the reasons for this and use our predictive analytical techniques to see where the markets go from here.