Thoughts {08.28.15}

I will update a few ETF charts over the weekend by Monday at the latest.  It's been a wild week in the markets but I found a couple of charts that might add some perspective to this week.  Note that these obviously do not include today's trading and the markets have opened slightly lower. 

The chart below illustrates the increase in volatility in the past five trading sessions, but for all of the ups and downs in the markets the S&P is down only about 3.5% for the year.  Note though that there are many companies & sectors  in the index that are down substantially more than that.

The reason you may have felt this sell off a bit more has been the extent of this decline or draw down from the most recent  market highs.  As of yesterdays close the market is down a bit over 12% from its most recent high.  You have to go back to 2011 to see a bigger decline.  That turned out to be a pretty good time to buy  US equities although you had to live through some very serious short term pain back then.  

Link: Advisor Perspectives:  "S&P 500 Snapshot:  The Rebound Continues."

*Long ETFs related to the S&P 500 in client and personal accounts although positions can change at any time without notice.