There?s no question investors are battling a volatile stock market, but analysts maintain there are profits to be made even in the worst of times.
“If you look at what happened [last week], we view this as an opportunity to put money back to work, albeit cautiously,” said Thomas Finney, managing director for wealth advocacy services at Wilmington Trust?s Baltimore office.
Wall Street endured a tumultuous week that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average fall hundreds of points shortly after Tuesday?s opening bell and the Federal Reserve?s lowering of the federal funds rate by 75 basispoints. The Dow rallied with substantial gains Wednesday and Thursday before taking a 170-point hit Friday.
When all was said and done Friday, though, the Dow actually enjoyed its first weekly gain of 2008. The market, it appears, might be recovering after weeks of sharp declines.
“We don?t feel there will be a recession, just more sluggish growth that might feel like a recession,” Finney said.
Friday?s losses might have been the result of investors selling and making the most of profits from Wednesday and Thursday, showing some uncertainty of the market?s direction.
“People may be looking to take some profits off the table in this volatile market,” said Scott Fullman, director of investment strategy for I.A. Englander & Co. “And there?s a lot of activity that?s coming up [this] week.”
President Bush is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address tonight. The Fed is expected to hold its first regularly scheduled meeting of the year Tuesday and Wednesday, and the Labor Department plans to weigh in on the job market Friday.
Finney said several clients viewed the current volatility as an opportunity to capitalize on a weak market that could soon recover and yield significant returns.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
