Volatility has become such a regular, daily occurrence on Wall Street that when stocks don’t really do much of anything, the “lack of market instability” becomes the story of the day. That was pretty much the case today although the one issue that could be counted on was the unpredictability within the oil market. Oil prices went back and forth finally settling at $31.72 a barrel, down 1.7 percent, after rising more than 3 percent at one point during the day. President Barack Obama will propose a $10 per barrel charge on oil to fund clean transportation projects as part of his final budget request next week. Oil companies would pay the fee, which would be gradually introduced over five years. The government would use the money to pay for high-speed railways, autonomous cars and other travel systems, aiming to reduce emissions.

The White House said in a statement:

“By placing a fee on oil, the president’s plan creates a clear incentive for private sector innovation to reduce our reliance on oil and at the same time invests in clean energy technologies that will power our future.”

The proposal would have difficulty clearing the Republican-controlled Congress.

After a terrible start to 2016, when will stocks “bottom out?”  CNBC asked that question to its experts today on “Trading Nation.”  Watch below.

There been a lot of attention of Japan installing a negative interest rate after the European Union went to negative rates last summer. Now, of the big questions that’s being asked around Washington and New York is: Could negative interest rates be coming to the U.S. next? A few experts CNBC spoke to today said “maybe.” Watch below.

Here are the final numbers from Thursday, 2/4/16 on Wall Street

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 16,416.58 (+79.92 / +0.49 %)

NASDAQ: 4,509.56  (+5.32 / +0.12 %)

S&P 500: 1,915.45  (+2.92 / +0.15 %)

Almost every person enjoyed playing on a see-saw as a child.  The constant up & down was a thrilling ride for a kid but as an adult the excitement of a see-saw diminishes, especially if that back & forth motion represents the price of a barrel of oil and has a negative effect on the stock market.  That’s exactly where we are today and it’s made many average investors get more than just motion sickness: They’ve lost significant amounts from their nest-eggs.  On Tuesday the price for a barrel of crude oil dropped 5.5% to under $30 .  Yesterday: Oil vaulted back up 8% to close above $32 per barrel.  The question many average American investors are asking:  When will it simply be time to get “off the Wall Street see-saw” before we enter a recession?

With all of this volatility on the markets, bond guru Bill Gross was asked by CNBC:  “Are we headed toward a recession?”  Gross, who runs the $1.3 billion Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund and founded bond giant Pimco more than 40 years ago, said debt problems are coming into clearer focus for the U.S.

“The household sector has delivered, but the corporate sector never did, and with investment grade and high yield yields 200-1,000 basis points higher now, what does that say about future rollover, corporate profits and solvency in many commodity-sensitive areas ?Indeed, ratings agency Moody’s has issued two warnings this week about deteriorating conditions in the corporate bond market. “

Bill Gross, who manages the Janus Global Portfolio explains why he thinks the U.S. could be back in recession in under two years.

Here are the final numbers from Wednesday, 2/3/16 on Wall Street.

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 16,336.66 (+183.12 / +1.13 %)

NASDAQ: 4,504.24  (-12.71 / -0.28 %)

S&P 500: 1,912.53  (+9.50 / +0.50 %)

On this Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow thus signaling an early spring. Unfortunately, neither the groundhog nor investors saw any positive news on the markets either, which signaled another down day on Wall Street. If the groundhog were an investor, he would have scurried back to his den. Once again, as has been the case in many recent sessions on Wall Street, the falling price of oil was the main reason for Tuesday’s selloff. The price for a barrel of crude oil dropped -5.5% to $29.90 per barrel, and oil giant Exxon-Mobile revealed a poor earnings report. Exxon Mobile’s oil profits were down in the 4th quarter of last year down $2.8 billion from the same quarter a year prior. Exxon’s profits are down 50% from 2014. In addition, The credit ratings of ten of the largest energy companies were downgraded by Standard & Poor’s.

Here are the final numbers from Tuesday, 2/2/16 on Wall Street.

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 16,153.50 (-295.60 / -1.9 %)

NASDAQ: 4,517.00  (-103.4 / -2.20 %)

S&P 500: 1,903.38  (-36.5 / -1.90 %)

Investors are no doubt thrilled that the month of January is over, thanks to substantial markets losses on Wall Street.  In the opening month of 2016 the Dow dropped -5.50% , the Nasdaq fell -7.86% last month (its worse January since 2008) and the S&P 500 fell -5.07% for the first month of 2016-The worst month since August 2015 for the S&P and its worst January since 2009. U.S. crude oil futures settled down $2, or 5.95 percent, at $31.62 a barrel.

However the first day of February was a microcosm of the entire month of January with continued volatility, marked by more declines in oil prices and additional sluggish economic data from China. A new survey says Chinese manufacturing fell in January to its lowest in more than three years. It’s the latest sign of weakness for the world’s No. 2 economy after it posted its slowest annual growth in a quarter century. Also: An official survey of factory purchasing managers released Monday fell to 49.4 last month. The latest reading is lower than December’s 49.7 on a 100-point scale on which numbers below 50 indicate contraction.

Art Cashin– UBS’ Director of Floor Operations at the New York Stock Exchange said Monday that-

“Monetary policy in the U.S. will be tighter even if the Federal Reserve does not raise interest rates this year. I don’t think the Fed tightens anymore, but I think the other central banks are, in effect, tightening for them by bringing their rates down and raising the contrast with the U.S. rates, and therefore the U.S. dollar.”

See more of Art Cashin’s comments on CNBC below.

There was also late word at Monday’s closing bell that Google has surpassed Apple as most valuable company in the world. Google’s parent company- Alphabet, now has a worth of about $570 billion, passing Apple’s current market cap of $535 billion.

Here are the final numbers from Monday, 2/1/16 on Wall Street.

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 16,449.18  (-17.12 / -0.10%)

NASDAQ: 4,620.37  (+6.41 / +0.14%)

S&P 500: 1,939.38  (-0.86 / -0.04%)

Markets finished in positive territory for the week after the Bank of Japan today surprisingly introduced a negative interest rate. The benchmark rate of -0.1% means that “commercial banks” in Japan will be charged by the central bank for some deposits as the Bank of Japan starts charging them for looking after their cash. The negative interest rate is designed to encourage the banks to use their reserves to lend to businesses in an attempt to re-energize Japan’s economy which has been in a ten year drought. The charge does not directly apply to ordinary customers’ accounts yet, as was the case in Greece last summer.  Japan has been desperate to boost consumer spending for years. At one point it even issued shopping vouchers to stimulate demand. Some analysts doubt just how effective the negative rate cut will be. The Euro-zone went to negative interest rates in June of 2014, but this is a first for Japan: the world’s 3rd-largest economy.

See more world coverage of the Bank of Japan deciding to implement negative interest rates below.

See why 2016 keeps getting uglier for US economy,according to CNBC below.

Here are the final numbers from Friday, 1/29/16 on Wall Street.

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 16,466.30  (+396.66 / +2.47%)

NASDAQ: 4,613.95  (+107.28 / +2.38%)

S&P 500: 1,940.24  (+46.88 / +2.48%)

The week’s volatility continued on Wall Street but markets finished up today, buoyed by a dramatic rise in the price of Facebook stock & and an increase in the cost of oil.  U.S. crude oil futures settled above $33 a barrel.  Facebook stock leaped 15.5% and Amazon gained 8.9% percent ahead of its earnings report. Apple closed up 0.7%.

Marc Chaikin, CEO of Chaikin Analytics was not overly impressed by today tech gains, however.

“It’s really Facebook and Amazon that are driving the market but my real concern as we pull back from the highs is this market is going to run up to resistance on any rally. The inability of the market to hold up on good news (from stocks) like Facebook, which is a key player, is not good news.”

More on today’s market activity from CNBC below.

Here are the final numbers from Thursday, 1/28/16 on Wall Street.

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 16,069.64  (+125.18 / +0.79%)

NASDAQ: 4,506.68  (+38.51 / +0.86%)

S&P 500: 1,893.36  (+10.41 / +0.55%)

At the midway point of the final trading week of January, U.S. stocks plummeted again following the release of a statement from the Federal Reserve declaring that the Board of Governors had decided to leave short term interest rates unchanged. The central bank said after its two day policy meeting:

“The Committee is closely monitoring global economic and financial developments and is assessing their implications for the labor market and inflation, and for the balance of risks to the outlook. Given the economic outlook, the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 1/4 to 1/2 percent. The stance of monetary policy remains accommodating, thereby supporting further improvement in labor market conditions and a return to 2 percent inflation.”

Lisa Kopp, head of traditional investments at U.S. Bank Wealth Management said today-

“People are just jittery and it will take time for things to settle out. … I think the market being down is just indicating it’s a tough market right now and people are nervous.”

Meanwhile, Investment advisor and fund manager Marc Faber, publisher of the “Gloom, Boom & Doom Report” & guest of the Crash Proof Retirement Show told attendees at the annual “Inside ETFs” conference recently that-

“The medium-term economic outlook has become “so depressing” that I might as well fill a newly installed pool with beer instead of water.”

Watch what Marc Faber had to say about the current global financial situation on CNBC below.

Here are the final numbers from Wednesday, 1/27/16 on Wall Street.

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 15,944.46  (-222.77 / -1.38%)

NASDAQ: 4,468.17  (-95.51 / -2.18%)

S&P 500: 1,882.95  (-20.68 / -1.09%)

Stock and oil prices rebounded in volatile trading on Tuesday, leading to gains in all of the indices. OPEC and Russian oil industry officials continued discussing a possible partnership to reduce the world’s oil glut. Meanwhile the U.S. central bank is expected to leave interest rates unchanged after its two-day policy meeting that began today and hinted it may not raise rates until mid-2016 at the earliest.
Oil gained $1.30 a barrel, or 4.26 percent, to close at $31.45.

Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group told Reuters:

“This is a schizophrenic market. Big up days, big down days. No real direction.”

Here are the final numbers from Tuesday, 1/26/16 on Wall Street.

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 15,885.22  (+282.00/ +1.78%)

NASDAQ: 4,518.49  (+49.18/ +1.09%)

S&P 500: 1,877.07  (+26.55 / +1.41%)

January 2016 will be a month that most investors will want to forget. So far this year The Dow is down -8.25%; the NASDAQ is off -10.36% and the S&P 500 has dropped -8% in just the first three trading weeks of 2016.  Today’s figures did not improve on the year-to-date numbers, and again it was the volatile price of oil that had markets losing money.  Oil settled down 5.75%, or $1.85, at $30.34 a barrel, reversing much of Friday’s a 9% price hike.

This week all eyes will once again be on the Federal Reserve & their meeting Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as the Bank of Japan‘s meeting.

Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott underscored the importance of the upcoming Fed meeting:

“While we have economic news, all eyes are going to be on the Fed and do they offer any (interpretation) on recent events.”

Meantime, Vanguard CEO Bill McNabb told CNBC today that investors can expect a lower return from stocks over the next ten years.  Watch below.

Here are the final numbers from Monday, 1/25/16 on Wall Street.

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 15,885.22  (-208.29/ -1.29%)

NASDAQ: 4,518.49  (-72.69/ -1.58%)

S&P 500: 1,877.07  (-29.83 / -1.56%)

With much of the northeastern United States bracing for a weekend blizzard, the stock markets managed to slow the recent “avalanche of losses” on the final trading day of the week. Stocks closed higher, posting the first positive week of the year. Adding to the market optimism was an 8% spike in oil as a cold snap boosted demand for heating oil and investors took advantage of the lowest prices since 2003. The price of a barrel of oil rose to over $32/barrel. Apple jumped more than 4.5 percent. The major U.S. averages were down about 7 percent or more for the year so far but on pace to end the week higher.

However, a question that most investors are asking their advisors is: “How much money have I lost in my portfolio over the first 3 weeks of 2016?”

“The stock market correction has been tough enough on Wall Street pros, but it’s exacted an even worse toll on retail investors. One gauge measuring the performance of retail investor portfolios shows a decline of 8.15 percent in 2016, an even bigger drop than the 6.9 percent decline the S&P 500 showed prior to the start of Friday trading.” -CNBC

Watch more below.

Here are the final numbers from Friday, 1/22/16 on Wall Street.

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 16,093.51  (+210.83/ +1.33%)

NASDAQ: 4,591.18  (+119.12/ +2.66%)

S&P 500: 1,906.90  (+37.91 / +2.03%)