Major Swings Are the New Norm for U.S. Stocks

Major swings in U.S. stocks have become the norm as of late. One of the biggest rallies of the bull market sent equities soaring on Friday, with the S&P 500 Index and Dow Jones Industrial Average both climbing more than 3 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index gaining 4.3 percent after a better-than-expected jobs report and sympathetic comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. It was the second time in just over a week that all three major indexes breached the 3 percent level. Moreover, for the S&P 500, it has now traded in an intraday range exceeding 2 percent on 15 of the last 21 days, the most since 2011.