The markets were a roller coaster this past week

Market selloff. Market rout. Recovery. Capitulation.

Investors heard all these words this week as U.S. markets took a roller coaster ride from the depths on Monday to a historic reversal just two days later. (Tweet this)

Here are some of the milestones hit throughout this historic week:

• All major averages closed up for the week, reversing steep declines.
• At this week's lows: the Dow was down 6.62 percent, the S&P 500was down 5.27 percent and the Nasdaq was down 8.79 percent (all lows came on Monday morning).
• This is just the third time in the Dow's long history that the index has completely wiped out weekly losses of at least 6.6 percent and the first time since the last week of October 1987 (the only other time was in October 1931).
• The Dow traversed more than 10,000 points this week, suffering seven straight days of triple digit moves, including its third biggest point gain ever on Wednesday of 619.07 and eighth biggest loss ever of 588.40 on Monday.
• This week was also the biggest intraday reversal for the S&P 500 since September 2008 (the week of Lehman's bankruptcy).
• Now for the Nasdaq: this week is the biggest intraweek reversal in the index's history (it has never recovered from a weekly loss of at least 8.79 percent to finish the same week with a gain).

The outlook was bleak on Monday as the Dow Jones industrial averagesunk more than 1,000 points at the open. But by Wednesday, the Dow had closed up more than 600 points for one of the biggest reversals in U.S. market history (by points).

On Tuesday, the Dow collapsed in the last hour of trading to end more than 200 points in the red.

But the next day, the Dow rallied, ending more than 600 points higher.

The Dow over the five-day trading period.

—CNBC's Robert Hum, Christopher Hayes and Gina Francollacontributed to this report.

Via: CNBC

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Dow briefly up 300 points, out of correction; Nasdaq, S&P 500 up 2%

U.S. stocks attempted a bounce for a second consecutive day on Thursday, amid continued signs of strength in the U.S. economy, following the recent plunge in global markets that sent the major averages into correction territory.

The major averages traded nearly 2 percent higher or more. The Nasdaq Composite swung out of correction and into positive territory for 2015. The Dow Jones industrial average traded about 300 points higher in an attempt to rise out of correction mode.

The S&P 500 rose out of correction with Wednesday's stellar gains of about 4 percent. As of late-morning trade, no components of the index had set new 52-week highs or lows. 

Apple jumped more than 2 percent but remains in correction territory. The stock closed out of a bear market on Wednesday.

"Obviously the rally is continuing this morning. It's basically strength here after the good economic news we got," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital. He said stocks have likely hit a bottom. "The China concerns are about to subside as the market concentrates on the (U.S.) economic data."

The second estimate of second-quarter GDP came in at 3.7 percent, topping the first read of an annualized 2.3 percent.

"I thought it was a very pretty number, particularly the revisions," said Marie Schofield, chief economist and senior portfolio manager at Columbia Threadneedle Investments. "The principle areas where we saw those revisions (such as final sales) were important, gives the underlying trend in demand and growth."

However, she said with the increased trade deficit and buildup in inventories she is "not as encouraged by the second half as the second quarter."

Weekly jobless claims came in slightly lower than expected at 271,000, marking the first decline in five weeks and indicating continued improvement in the labor market.

July pending home sales rose 0.5 percent, holding steady from an upwardly revised June reading of a 0.5 percent increase.

Bond yields trimmed gains, with the 10-year at 2.18 percent and the 2-year at 0.70 percent. Earlier, the 10-year yield hit 2.2 percent, its highest level since Aug. 19.

The U.S. dollar traded mixed, weaker against emerging market currencies and stronger against the euro and yen. The euro traded near $1.12 and the yen held around 120.5 yen against the greenback.

Crude oil is in focus after topping $40 a barrel in early trade. Crude oil futures for October delivery jumped $1.63 to $40.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 10:05 a.m.

Gold futures for December delivery fell $6.10 to $1,118.50 an ounce in morning trade.

"The combination of stronger economic data from both the U.S. and Europe and more stable China and EM, combined with a somewhat more dovish Fed postponing rate hikes is definitely good news for both the U.S. and Europe," said Ilya Feygin, senior strategist at WallachBeth Capital.

"The U.S. market has already partially reacted yesterday and will open about 0.8 percent higher this morning," he said. It faces overhead resistance less than 1 percent above here and buying on the elevated opening gap has not been a good tactical buy point in this more volatile market with lower liquidity."

The major averages had their best day in four years on Wednesday. After five consecutive days of triple-digit declines, the Dow surged 619 points into Wednesday's close, finishing the day at 16,285. The S&P 500 was up nearly 73 at 1,940.5. The Nasdaq surged more than 4 percent to 4,697.

The gains supported global markets on Thursday, with the DAX and STOXX Europe 600 both surging more than 3 percent in intraday trade and China's Shanghai Composite index closing up 5.4 percent to reclaim the critical 3,000 mark. The Nikkei and Hang Seng closed up 1.08 and 3.60 percent, respectively.

The positive close in China was the first in five trading sessions, after improved sentiment in the U.S. managed to outweigh the fears surrounding China's slowing economy, which has been partly responsible for the recent selloff seen in global stocks.

As of the U.S. close on Wednesday, losses on the S&P Global BMI totaled $3.45 trillion, according to Howard Silverblatt of S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Via: CNBC

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Relax, we're about to hit the bottom in stocks: Jeffrey Saut

U.S. stock investors take a breather, the market is nearing its bottom, Jeffrey Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James, said Friday.

"Our timing models call for a low between Aug. 13 and Aug. 18, with a plus-or–minus three-day margin of error, so today it feels like capitulation," Saut said in an interview on CNBC's " Squawk Box."

Saut made his remarks after U.S. equities recorded their worst trading day in about a year and a half. The Dow Jones industrial average fell nearly 360 points, while the S&P 500 turned negative for the year, as a massive fall in oil and global growth concerns weighed on investor sentiment.

Read MoreS&P, Dow just had worst day of the year

"We're nearing the bottom. We knifed through the July support yesterday. It was pretty ugly. You would look for some kind of bottom either sometime today or the middle of next week," Saut added. 

"I've been in this business for over 45 years and I've seen this act before," he said. "It's kind of like pornography. You know it when you see it."

Via: CNBC

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[VIDEO] Fiorina: 'I Will Not Replace a Single' Retiring Federal Worker

(CNSNews.com) - "We have never succeeded in shrinking the size of government," Republican Carly Fiorina told "Fox News Sunday." She said she would do it.

"We have a bunch of baby boomers who are going to retire out of the federal government over the next five to six years. I will not replace a single one," she promised. 

"And yes, we need to actually get about the business of reducing the size, the power, the cost, complexity and corruption of this federal government."

Host Chris Wallace played a video clip of Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) criticizing Fiorina for nearly driving Hewlett-Packard, a Fortune 500 company, "into the ground." Schultz noted that Fiorina "fired 30,000 people when she was CEO."

"You know, if you end up as Republican nominee, the Democrats are going to put that in every ad -- she fired 30,000 people," host Chris Wallace told Fiorina. "It's exactly the kind of thing, Ms. Fiorina, that sunk Mitt Romney."

Fiorina said she's "flattered" that the head of the DNC would come after me because it must mean she's "gaining traction."

"But here's the facts: I led Hewlett-Packard through a very difficult time, the dotcom bust post-9/11, the worst technology recession in 25 years. I would remind Debbie Wasserman Schultz that it has taken the NASDAQ 15 years to recover.

Sometimes in tough times, tough calls are necessary. However, we also took a company from $44 billion to almost $90 million. We quadrupled its growth rate, quadrupled its cash flow, tripled its innovation to 11 patents a day, and went from lagging behind to leading in every product category in every market segment.

And yes, I was fired at the end of that, in a boardroom, which I've been very open about. And I was fired because when you challenge the status quo, which is what leadership is about, you make enemies.

Steve Jobs was fired. Oprah Winfrey was fired. Walt Disney was fired. Mike Bloomberg was fired. I feel like I'm in good company. And we need somebody to challenge status quo of Washington, D.C. and get something done."

Wallace predicted that Democrats will find "that poor, unfortunate person" who was fired, and suffered, because of Fiorina's management.

She said there's nothing harder for a chief executive to do than to tell an employee, "we don't have a job for you."

"It's also true that the vast majority of Americans know that in tough times sometimes tough decisions have to be made. And what they're frustrated by is the federal government never makes a tough decision."

Via: CNS News

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