Courtesy of Doug Short.
The week closed with four up (the US and Europe) and four down (Asia/Pacific), with the downside in the East far greater than the upside in the West. The Eurozone has been focus over that past week, as will probably be the case next week as well.
However, the markets will soon swing their binoculars to the congressional Super Committee for signs of progress in fixing the US budget. The committee faces a November 23rd deadline, although anyone who thinks they’ll actually deliver a viable solution by the deadline is, well, lost somewhere in Cloud Cuckoo Land.
Also, we’re nearing the time of year when investment companies are pondering the odds of a year-end rally. After all, there are only seven weeks left in the year. Of our International gang of eight, only one, the S&P 500, is showing a gain for the year (a fractional 0.49%). The FTSE is a distant second, down 6% with all the other markets sporting double-digit losses for 2011.
The tables below provide a concise overview of performance comparisons over the past four weeks for these seven major indexes. I’ve also included the average for each week so that we can evaluate the performance of a specific index relative to the overall mean and better understand weekly volatility. The colors for each index name help us visualize the comparative performance over time.
The chart below illustrates the comparative performance of World Markets since March 9, 2009. The start date is arbitrary: The S&P 500, CAC 40 and BSE SENSEX hit their lows on March 9th, the Nikkei 225 on March 10th, the DAX on March 6th, the FTSE on March 3rd, the Shanghai Composite on November 4, 2008, and the Hang Seng even earlier on October 27, 2008. However, by aligning on the same day and measuring the percent change, we get a better sense of the relative performance than if we align the lows.
A Longer Look Back
Here is the same chart starting from the turn of 21st century. The relative over-performance of the emerging markets (Shanghai, Mumbai, Hang Seng) is readily apparent.
Check back next weekend for a new update.
