Stock Market Rally Is Dented as Signs of Worry Emerge (thanks a hell of alot, TACO) ...

[marble falls]

Stock Market Rally Is Dented as Signs of Worry Emerge

A recent dip in trading shows how investors are balancing a “fear of missing out at the same time as real fear.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/business/stock-market-valuation-worry.html

Joe Rennison

By Joe Rennison
Nov. 14, 2025Updated 2:47 p.m. ET

-snip-

In a choppy session on Friday, the S&P 500 dropped in early trading before recovering to post a small gain, partly retracing a steep decline the day before. The index remains close to record highs, reflecting a curious mix of optimism and worry among investors as they try to plot the direction of markets.

-snip-

And although executives try to steer analysts’ earnings expectations to levels that they can beat — part of the farce of the quarterly earnings season — the share of companies beating those expectations has been higher than normal, a meaningful signal for investors.

-snip-

Wary of high valuations and potential market potholes, investors are punishing companies that miss earnings expectations more harshly than usual, which some analysts say is an indicator that they are more attuned to signs of stress than shows of strength. On average, companies in the S&P 500 that missed earnings expectations by more than 2 percent fell roughly 4 percent immediately after, while those that beat expectations by more than 2 percent gained only just over 1 percent, according to data from Fundstrat and FactSet.

It is hard not to worry, investors said, when valuations have risen so quickly, propelled by bets on the profit potential of artificial intelligence. Kristina Hooper, chief market strategist at Man Group, pointed to the surge in gold prices this year as another sign of underlying worry, despite stock markets also rising at the same time.



Sounds like a bipolar market where you have fear of missing out at the same time as fearing a real downturn

[MichMan]

1. The shutdown was pretty damaging to the economy short term

[Greg_In_SF]

2. The DOW

went up 1500 points during the shutdown.

[marble falls]

4. That tide did not raise EVERYONE'S boat. And a lot of that "growth" was making up for the previous losses. A bunch ...

... of investors bought up all the stock a lot of people dropped when the Marked took a shit and the bears dropped their portfolios on the market.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. DJIA Still Up 11% YTD

The S&P is higher than that but that's more propped up by AI than the Dow.
This short term drop will be considered a blip.

[marble falls]

5. Check with me about that once the Epstein files really hit the fan and TACO goes into full lunacy.

[ProfessorGAC]

6. I Hope So

But, the irrationality of the AI bubble might not be affected by any scandal no matter how big.
None of it makes sense now; having the markets ignore a huge scandal would be just be another "doesn't make sense" factor.