Elon Musk has set a world record for the largest loss of personal fortune in history, about $ 200 billion since November 2021.
Guinness World Records
During the bull market, it seemed Elon could do no wrong with Tesla or Space X. But bear markets have a way of taking former heroes down a notch or two. We noted the same happened post oil-boom with Eddie Chiles of Western Company.
Spending $44B on Twitter by selling TSLA shares looks odd now. And the progressive lovers of Twitter are aghast that their privileged platform has fallen into hostile hands.
Markets were so oversold by the end of October, a bounce was due. The heavier weighted stocks that led the market down have rallied. Meta, Amazon, Priceline and Honeywell all helped lift various indexes. Industrials have held up the best. The rally has taken that index from 29,000 to 34,500.
Inflation in December eased for the sixth straight month from its mid-year peak.
Wall Street Journal Friday
We recommended buying closed-end municipal funds like BLE over the last two months. This fund fell from $14.50 December 2021 to $9.50 November 2022. It has now rallied to $10.85. That is a good percentage move and one captures a 5% plus tax free yield at the same time. Follow this trade on my weblog at www.themarketperspective.com.
A primary reason for the retreat in inflation has been the drop in the prices of the energy sector. West Texas Intermediate Crude peaked just under $125 in June and now trades at $78.39. Gasoline futures peaked at $4.20 and now trade at $2.48. Despite the drop in oil prices, energy share prices have done very well. The XLE moved from $52.50 last January to $89.82 today. The Republican thin House Majority promises to fast track more federal leases. Employment in the Permian Basin is strong. Halliburton bottomed at $24 in October and has regained its June high of $42.
Still, the NASD has been the hardest hit of the DJIA or SPX. Stock prices sold off and then rallied last January, peaking in February before resuming the downtrend. A similar rally has occurred with the DJIA moving from 33,000 to 34,189. Best guess is that lower inflation numbers, less anxiety about rate increases, both of which are reflected in a bond price rally, may calm things again into February and March.
