Another Rough Day For The Markets

February fools!

After appearing to have begun recovery from the early week sell-off, the markets took another big dip Thursday. The S&P 500 closed down 3.8 percent, Dow Jones Industrial Average 4.2 percent and NASDAQ Composite 3.9 percent. The VIX closed up about 24 percent.

Some experts had predicted things could get worse before they get better.

"We're telling [clients] that VantagePoint is forecasting it will keep going down, so they should probably take some money off the table," Lane Mendelsohn, vice president of Market Technologies, told Benzinga Wednesday.

As CNNMoney put it, "Fears about the bond market, inflation and interest rates seized investors again."

"The bond market has definitely got the stock market's attention," said Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial. "Is the bond market telling us something we don't know? Is there more inflation down the road than we're expecting?"

Related Link: 'Busiest Trading Day Ever': Brokerages, Retail Clients React To Volatility

No Reason For Worry?

The decline continues a market correction off an overheated January, according to market professionals. By some accounts, it’s no reason for worry.

“Nothing is wrong economically,” Bankrate.com Chief Financial Analyst Greg McBride said. “The economy is doing better now than it has any time in the past decade. This is just some healthy, and overdue, volatility to wring out any excess.”

Some attribute it to enduring confusion among traders as to how to move forward.

“The dust hasn’t settled yet, and I think both buyers and sellers are trying to figure out what this market really wants to do,” Jonathan Corpina, senior managing partner for Meridian Equity Partners, told Reuters. "I would think that this continues to happen for the next few trading sessions for everything to kind of get flushed out.” Some have pointed out the phenomenon’s becoming a trend.

This marks the 96th 10% correction in the S&P 500's history and the fourth since the current bull market began in March 2009.

— Bespoke (@bespokeinvest) February 8, 2018