Black Swan Casts Shadow Over Wall Street
The Weekly Update
Week of February 3rd, 2025
By Christopher T. Much, CFP®, AIF®
Stocks were mixed last week as investors parsed market-moving news nearly every trading day—from an unsettling AI update to White House news to Q4 corporate reports.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 1.00 percent while the Nasdaq Composite Index slid 1.64 percent. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose, picking up 0.27 percent. The MSCI EAFE Index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, added 0.75 percent.
A Choppy End to January
The week started on a down note with news that a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup had made a breakthrough, which put pressure on a wide range of tech stocks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 3 percent for the day, but the Dow Industrials ended the trading session slightly higher.
Stocks were under pressure again mid-week as investors waited on news from the Federal Reserve. The Fed voted to hold …
