Perspectives Newsletter: Q3, 2011
During the third quarter, volatility reached truly abnormal levels. Beginning in Agust, the Dow Jones index has averaged 1.69% in daily price swings, twice the average since 2000. There were 3 days in August when the intraday change exceeded 4%. The 4% level had been breached in two previous troubled markets: 26 days in 1931 and 22 days in 2008. Flight from risk also defined the third quarter activity, as smaller capitalization stocks and emerging markets fell more than larger cap US stocks.
