Jun 8, 2013

Maria Bartiromo: 2-day correction is healthy and a buying opportunity

Finally my observation on this market sell-off today. This may sound strange. As an optimist I was happy the market stayed down and did not rally from the lows into the close. Why do I say that? Well, this market has been trading up in a straight line pretty much since November of 2012. In fact today and yesterday was the worst two-day drop since November. And still the S&P 500 and the Dow are up in the double digits year-to-date. This may be the moment market pros have been waiting for, an opportunity to actually get in at better levels, lower levels. So my point is seeing a pull-back is exactly what you would want from a healthy market.

The question of course has to be has anything really changed? And in some cases it has. Interest rates have begun to move up. The conversation on Wall Street has begun to shift, to not if, but when the Federal Reserve will slow down the stimulus by cutting the amounts of bonds it buys. And even amid the rally there remain a healthy level of skepticism - some 30% of accounts are sitting in cash. (You just heard that from [UBS Group CEO] Sergio Ermotti.)  At some point that money will come back into the market and go to work. And that point could be here in this pull-back. Because any clear-thinking investor knows, nothing goes up in a straight line.

Many traders I spoke with today told me they are hoping for further selling tomorrow because they want to see a clean sweep.  They want to truly believe that there is value to be had by getting in for the long-term at lower prices. And if we are down tomorrow, it would be the first three-day losing streak for the Dow this year. First three-day losing streak this year.  That's incredible, and not normal. There may be more selling to come.  In fact, it would probably be healthy if there was. But long-term, most people do believe it will once again be a buying opportunity.

~ Maria Bartiromo, "Maria's Observation," CNBC, June 5, 2013

No comments: