ETFs Dump 2%

Major indices and ETFs dropped nearly 2% Friday on the 25th anniversary of Black Monday, October 19th, 1987. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) dropped 1.67%, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) lost 1.52%, the PowerShares QQQ Trust Series 1 ETF (QQQ) dropped a whopping 2.39%, and the iShares Russell 2000 Index ETF (IWM) lost 1.69%.

Friday was a bad day for stocks and Wall Street, as the elections loom ahead and GE (GE) and Microsoft (MSFT) reported weak earnings. Stocks sunk in Europe too in anticipation of upcoming Spanish elections, as the possible change in power flared up doubts that Spain would participate in the bond buying program. Existing home sales declined 1.7% as well, so overall it is not too surprising that markets declined.

All of the above negative news however were likely not enough reasons to kick the markets nearly 2% into the dirt, however it appears that finally markets have found a significant direction to go, after several days of miniscule declines and gains. From a technical perspective, the S&P 500 Index just bounced off of its 50 Day Moving Average, which will likely offer some support for a while.

Meanwhile, the MACD and RSI indicators for the S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:SPY) had gone negative for the past few days, so it is not so surprising that the markets declined, albeit surprising that markets declined nearly 2%. The fact that a near 2% dump occurred on the 25th anniversary of the 1987 crash adds to the feeling of unease, no doubt.

Bottom Line: Markets have been on a flat, if not steady decline for several days now, so it is not surprising that markets took a sharper decline Friday. The fact that markets declined nearly 2% is surprising however, especially with the “Black Monday” theme backing it.

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