Daily Profit: Stock market news and commentary from Chief Investment Strategist Ian WyattSmall-cap stocks were the weakest performers in the first 90 minutes of trading Wednesday. At midmorning, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 4.2% to 424.73, while the Dow and S&P 500 were down only fractionally. Weighing on the market was news that new home construction and applications for future projects both plunged to record lows in January. Individual small caps that were bucking the trend included lightning pole maker Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI), which was up 16% to $44.53 on stronger-than-expected Q4 earnings, and specialty chemical maker Rockwood Holdings (NYSE:ROC), whose Q4 earnings also exceeded expectations. Rockwood was up 9.56% at $8.25. Shrinking Japan At first glance, it might look as though the stocks market voiced its opinion of Obama’s stimulus bill with a big thumbs down on Tuesday. But the more immediate catalyst was Japan’s Q4 quarter GDP number. Japan’s economy shrunk at a 12.7% annualized rate between October and December. That is really bad. And it goes to show just how weak the global economy is. Stimulus plans will help people weather the storm, but it’s pretty clear that $800 billion isn’t going to turn the global economy around. Future Fortune Makers Webinar The S&P 500 closed below an important support level at 800 yesterday. That’s got some analysts talking about a re-test of the October lows at 741. I don’t have any particular insight if we’ll see those levels again or not. To me, it’s more important to keep what’s going on in the stock market and the economy in perspective. I launched my first advisory service in the middle of the post-Internet bubble recession. Things looked pretty bleak then, too. Investors had lost their shirts when the market collapsed. Unemployment was rising, companies were cutting costs, and then 9/11 happened. That was the proverbial nail in the economy’s coffin. Many people thought America would be forever changed. But I knew then that the recession would reverse and the end of the American way was being greatly exaggerated. I made some of my best investments during that recession. My readers at the . . . spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer
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