[Certified Financial Group]

The Markets

As of market close December 11, 2015 – Investors appeared to be in a selling mood this past week as each of the indexes listed here fell by more than 3.0%. The S&P 500 dropped over 79 points, closing down 3.79%, while the Dow lost over 580 points, finishing 3.26% below the prior week’s close. The Nasdaq closed down 4.06%, while the Russell 2000 suffered the largest decline for the week, finishing a little over 5.0% behind its December 4 closing value. Plunging oil prices and the expectation of a possible interest rate hike were key factors in last week’s volatility. Of the major indexes listed here, only the Nasdaq remains in positive territory year-to-date, as each of the other indexes are below their respective 2014 closing values.

Read the rest of the story.