Stocks stumble into the red

Buy the shutdown, sell the re-opening appears to be the trade in markets today, says Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at investing and trading platform IG.

Indices slip after shutdown ends

Today’s move is a classic ‘buy the rumour, sell the fact’, as the market digests the news that the shutdown has come to an end. At the headline level, tech remains the weakest area for a third day in a row, but US small caps continue to take losses too. Notably volatility is on the rise again, moving up for a second day, suggesting that jitters around high valuations haven’t gone away.

Big Short guru steps away from the table

Michael Burry’s decision to close his fund will get lots of attention, more than normal for a fund that size. It will of course be viewed in entirely different ways depending on your prevailing bias; bears will see it as confirmation that the market is truly in a bubble, oblivious of reality, and bulls will say it is a reflection of someone conceding defeat. Being right in the past, even in such spectacular fashion, doesn’t convey any special clairvoyance on the future, a point the man himself would no doubt acknowledge.