Courtesy of Doug Short. Today the Nasdaq stole the show with its first close above 4,000 since September 7th, 2000. Quick sidebar: The Nasdaq hit its all-time closing high of 5,048.62 six months earlier on March 10. Meanwhile today, after setting an all-time intraday high, the S&P 500 closed with a miniscule 0.01% gain. The index survived shrugged off this morning’s weak consumer confidence. So what triggered the late day selling? Bloomberg almost never fails to offer an explanation (however lame): “investors rebalanced portfolios.”

Here is a 10-minute look at the Thanksgiving week so far.

Today’s volume was a tad higher than yesterday — no doubt from all that rebalancing!

The S&P 500 is now up 26.40% for 2013 and a mere 0.11% below the all-time closing high of November 22.

For a better sense of how these declines figure into a larger historical context, here’s a long-term view of secular bull and bear markets in the S&P Composite since 1871.

- Phil

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Philip R. Davis is a founder of Phil's Stock World (www.philstockworld.com), a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders. Mr. Davis is a serial entrepreneur, having founded software company Accu-Title, a real estate title insurance software solution, and is also the President of the Delphi Consulting Corp., an M&A consulting firm that helps large and small companies obtain funding and close deals. He was also the founder of Accu-Search, a property data corporation that was sold to DataTrace in 2004 and Personality Plus, a precursor to eHarmony.com. Phil was a former editor of a UMass/Amherst humor magazine and it shows in his writing -- which is filled with colorful commentary along with very specific ideas on stock option purchases (Phil rarely holds actual stocks). Visit: Phil's Stock World (www.philstockworld.com)

© 2013 Copyright PhilStockWorld - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

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