While the flight to safety has been most glaringly appealing in bonds over the last 2 years, investors might recognize that this is also where the greatest risk may lay ahead and when the bond trade unwinds. For now, investors would likely be more greatly rewarded by exercising patience and nibbling on stocks within a manner that is consistent with long-term objectives and personal risk tolerance.
Finom Group...Seth Golden
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For most of 2017, the average number of E-mini contracts available to be bought or sold within a tight band around their current price, corresponding to a one-point move in the S&P 500, hovered between 3,000 and 6,000, Deutsche Bank data show.
But over the past two years, that number has rarely climbed above 2,000 contracts. On Friday, it fell to just 163 contracts—down more than 80% from a week earlier—before slipping even further, to 132 contracts, last week Tuesday, according to Deutsche Bank.
The term “liquidity” refers to the ability to execute a big trade without affecting the price of an asset. In layman’s terms, lower liquidity means that when a wave of selling hits a particular market, prices drop more sharply than they would have otherwise. In the case of the E-mini, heavy selling has a knock-on effect on the stock market itself—and on investors’ portfolios.
Low market liquidity reared its ugly head on Monday and Tuesday’s market snapback in futures is no less a factor of market liquidity than it was on Monday. Investors should consider that this period of market whipsawing action will soon pass and will be revealed as yet another buying opportunity. With that opinion put forth, everyone has an opinion on where the market will be heading going forward.