Futures Shrug after Dow Jones Average Hits All-Time High

Futures Shrug after Dow Jones Average Hits All-Time High (Bloomberg)

You’d never know from the scant movement of this morning’s U.S. stock-index futures that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed above 16,000 for the first time yesterday to set an all-time high. But as equities remain little changed from the previous session, the futures markets may be acting with disdain towards this new high. Indeed, the S&P 500 Index futures contracts expiring in December have lost 0.1 percent through Thursday and are expected to end the week down for the first time since the week of Oct. 4. Could it be that investors are frightened of new highs, which were last seen just before the meltdown of 2008? Not according to hedge-fund manager David Tepper of Appaloosa Management LP, who bluntly stated, “I know there’s talk about bubbles, this is not one.” With that kind of surety, what could go wrong for investors?