The Week in Markets: “Flooding the zone”

This year, the S&P 500 index has been in what technical analysts call a “broadening formation” of wider swings, that signals increasing volatility and typically precedes large price moves. While the second Trump administration is less chaotic​​ than the first, it is overwhelming any opposition with a blitz of activity. The thinking is there is no time like the present, and it’s better to do the hard things first to get any economic slowdown they might cause out of the way, before mid-term elections are held in November next year. Meanwhile, the uncertainties Trump has created have ignited animal spirits in long-dormant and lazy economies, and by extension their stock markets.