S&P 500 Snapshot - Another Advance And Just Shy Of A Record Close

The Dow posted another record close today, and our preferred equity benchmark S&P 500 came very close to following the example of its elderly cousin. The 500 finished the session a mere 0.04% below its record close five market days earlier on December 13th. The index popped at the open, hitting its 0.44% intraday high about fifteen minutes later. It then zigzagged downward to its 0.16% mid-afternoon intraday low. An upward trend during the final hour lifted the index to its 0.36% closing gain.

Here is a snapshot of the past five sessions.

(Click on image to enlarge)

The yield on the 10-year note closing at 2.57%, up three BPs from the previous close.

Here is daily chart of the index. Trading volume was again well below its 50-day moving average.

(Click on image to enlarge)

Perspective on Drawdowns

Here's a snapshot of selloffs since the 2009 trough.

(Click on image to enlarge)

Here is a more conventional log-scale chart with drawdowns highlighted. 

(Click on image to enlarge)

Here is a linear scale version of the same chart with the 50- and 200-day moving averages. 

(Click on image to enlarge)

A Perspective on Volatility

For a sense of the correlation between the closing price and intraday volatility, the chart below overlays the S&P 500 since 2007 with the intraday price range. We've also included a 20-day moving average to help identify trends in volatility.

(Click on image to enlarge)