The stock market has always been a volatile environment – but the last several weeks have seen an increase in that phenomenon. The bull market of 2021 shifted into reverse in January, and increased intraday swings, along with a partial reversal of losses, have been the order of the day in February. Unsurprisingly, much of the market’s currently unsettled character can be attributed to set of conflicting currents that are pushing in multiple directions at once.
A new report on market and economic conditions from Oppenheimer lays out the situation. Chief asset manager John Stoltzfus writes: “In our view many things are actually getting better even as a number of problems that appear quite vexing seem even to appear to worsen. Consider the huge upside surprise in the jobs numbers for January and the massive upside revisions for December reported last Friday and their implications…
