Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

What Happened This Week: Quantifying The Pain Of September, Yet Buffett Is Buying

Published 01/10/2022, 13:25
Updated 02/09/2020, 07:05

Well, let’s just take a moment today and say one final goodbye to September. Here’s your hat, and there’s the door.

The past month saw stocks on a downward tear the likes of which have not been seen since 2009. That’s 13 years ago. Ah, yes, 2009. Do you know why the year rings a bell? It’s because it’s the bracket year of that time known as the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. Yup, that 2009.

But let’s get back to our current little crisis. In the past week, the Dow Jones fell further into a bear market, losing 458 more points on Thursday to close at 29,225. It closed the week at 28,864, down another 1.24% on the day. It also closed the month down about 7%, earning it the designation of being the worst one-month performance since the COVID-19 pandemic threw markets into a tailspin in March of 2020.

Dow Jones Weekly Chart

Source: Investing.com

In fact, all three major U.S. indexes slipped into bear markets.

Yes, September has capped a quarter to forget.

Over on the S&P 500, gains seen in the summer, which came in around 17%, were wiped out. The S&P has dropped now for three quarters in a row, down nearly 24% so far this year. About two-thirds of the stocks on the index finished the quarter lower.

What To Expect In October

So what will October hold? Well, if past is prelude, it could go either way. Because, according to a report in Barron’s, when the Dow sheds 7% or more in September, the following month only sees slight increases in about 50% of the times.

And despite yesterday’s Personal Consumption Expenditures Index pointing to a rebound in August, the Fed will likely not stray from its inflation-fighting course, keeping to its plan to continue to edge interest rates higher.

October also marks the start to a new earnings season. So brace yourself. The predictions on growth do not look great.

BlackRock analyst and managing director Russ Koesterich has even issued a warning to stay away from U.S. equities.

According to reports, the world’s largest investment manager is telling investors to be very cautious, claiming policy-makers are underestimating the risk of recession.

In a note last week BlackRock stated:

“Many central banks, like the Fed, are still solely focused on pressure to quickly get core inflation back to 2% without fully acknowledging how much economic pain it will take in a world shaped by production constraints.”

Are You Wondering What Warren Buffett Is Up To?

And just in case you were wondering what Warren Buffett was up to this past week, while all of this was going on, he was busy boosting his stake in Occidental Petroleum Corp (NYSE:OXY).

According to a Reuters report, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa), Buffett’s investment firm, bought 5.99 million shares in the Houston-based oil company between Sept.26 and Sept. 28. The purchase totaled a cool $352 million. It brings his stake in Occidental to 194.4 million shares, which if you do the math, gives his holding a value of about $11.94 billion based on Friday’s closing price of $61.45 a share.

Berkshire now owns just under 21% of Occidental shares.

Occidental shares have almost doubled since the beginning of 2022 ($35.56 on Jan. 1).

Occidental Petroleum Weekly Chart

Source: Investing.com

Top Winners And Losers Of The Week

Again, for all those out there who are keeping score, here are the top gainers of the past week:

On the S&P 500

  • Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB): +35%
  • Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC): +8.62%
  • Valero Energy Corp (NYSE:VLO): +6.24%
  • Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX): +.22%
  • Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS): +5.78%

On the NASDAQ Composite

  • Biogen: +35%
  • Thermogenesis Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:THMO): +34.71%
  • Manitex International (NASDAQ:MNTX): +27.33%
  • O2Micro International Limited (NASDAQ:OIIM): +26.15%
  • Biocept (NASDAQ:BIOC): +22.21%

And the biggest losers:

On the S&P 500

  • Carnival (NYSE:CCL): -21.45%
  • CarMax (NYSE:KMX): -16.95%
  • VF Corp (NYSE:VFC): -16.41%
  • Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NYSE:NCLH): -16.16%
  • Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL):-14.68%

On the NASDAQ Composite

  • Pineapple Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PEGY): - 49.18%
  • Green Giant Inc (NASDAQ:GGE): -38.89%
  • Color Star Technology Co Ltd (NASDAQ:CSCW): -33.26%
  • National CineMedia Inc (NASDAQ:NCMI): -27.25%
  • Air T Inc (NASDAQ:AIRT): -23.91%

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.