Several key issues, including continued worry over the global economy had Wall Street investors running scared again today after the Federal Reserve released its minutes from last month’s policy meeting in which they decided to raise interest rates. The minutes showed that some of the Board of Governors on the Fed’s Open Market Committee did express some concern at the Fed’s Dec. 15-16 meeting that inflation could get stuck at dangerously low levels, and that in turn sent the markets into a tailspin.

“Nearly all participants were now reasonably confident inflation would move back to 2 percent over the medium term, but some members said that their decision to raise the target range was a close call, particularly given the uncertainty about inflation dynamics.”

The Dow & S&P 500 closed below the psychologically important levels of 17,000 and 2,000 respectively. The markets also reacted negatively to the price of oil dropping over %5 1/2. U.S. crude futures settled down $2 a barrel, at $33.97 a barrel — its worst settle since Dec. 19, 2008. See what Stanley Fischer, Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve had to say about the declining price of oil, below.

Here are the final numbers from Wednesday, 1/6/16 on Wall Street:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 16,906.51  (-252.15/ -1.47%)

NASDAQ: 4,835.77  (-55.67/ -1.14%)

S&P 500: 1,990.26  (-26.45 / -1.31%)

Following Monday’s massive selloff, Wall Street went into the second trading day of 2016, attempting to regain some of the losses from the day prior. Investors wavered for much of the day before finishing with a mixed session. Apple stocks led decliners falling over 2% at one point following a report indicating that the tech leader may significantly cut production of its iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. Japanese news outlet Nikkei reported Apple is expected to reduce the output on its iPhone 6S & 6S Plus by about 30% in the first quarter of 2016.

Will there be life in the stock market this year following the end of QE3 last year? Not so much says CNBC Finance Editor Jeff Cox. Watch below.

Here are the final numbers from Tuesday, 1/5/16 on Wall Street:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17,158.66  (+9.72/ +0.06%)

NASDAQ: 4,891.43  (-11.66/ -.24%)

S&P 500: 2,016.71  (+4.05 / +0.20%)

On the first trading day of 2016 Wall Street experienced huge losses as the financial world reacted to continued economic instability in China.  Earlier, the Dow fell more than 450 points, plummeting more than 2.5 percent, on pace for its largest percent decline on the first trading day of the year since 1932.   Overnight, Chinese stocks dropped almost 7% Monday, which set-off an emergency “stock circuit breaker” that halted trading on the Chinese markets. Feeble Chinese manufacturing figures and continued tensions in the Middle East were two of the main reasons for the huge fall-offs. Saudi Arabia said yesterday it is cutting diplomatic relations with Iran after protesters set fire to the Saudi Embassy in Tehran.

See why China’s failing economy matters to the U.S. courtesy of CNBC below.

Last year Wall Street finished mostly lower. For 2015, the Dow registered a loss of 2.2%, marking the first down year for the Dow since 2008.The S&P 500 index, regarded as a benchmark for the broader stock market, lost 0.7% for 2015. The NASDAQ ended last year with a gain of 5.7%.

Here are the final numbers from Monday, 1/4/16 on Wall Street:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17,148.94  (-276.09/ -1.58%)

NASDAQ: 4,903.09  (-104.32/ -2.08%)

S&P 500: 2,012.66  (-31.28 / -1.53%)

On the last day of a Christmas shortened trading week, Wall Street picked up some gains and the energy sector bounced back, although according to Market Watch reporter Anora Mahmudova, the Santa rally can’t fix the real problems plaguing stocks. Check it out here.
The Dow was up by as many as 150 points while the S&P 500 moved into the green for the year and the NASDAQ  inched over the psychologically important 5,000 mark. The price of a barrel of oil unexpectedly rose by as much as 4 percent due to a surprisingly large drop in U.S. crude inventories. November consumer purchases also rose in November along with wages. A Commerce Department report showed that household incomes climbed 0.3 percent, while spending also rose 0.3 percent, the most in three months.

Columnist Caroline Baum of MarketWatch.com says “the bond market could upend the Fed’s best-laid plans.”  Read more here.

Meanwhile there was some disturbing news from CNBC that starting Jan. 1, 2016, secure internet access might go away for a small percentage of people around the world and millions of users could lose access to websites because of it. Watch below.

Here are the final numbers from Wednesday, 12/23/15 on Wall Street as of 3:00pm EST

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17, 591.21 (+173.94/ +1.00%)

NASDAQ: 5,043.84 (+42.74 / +0.85%)

S&P 500: 2,063.63 (+24.62 / +1.21%)

“I just think people are bottom-fishing here”   –James Meyer, chief investment officer at Tower Bridge Advisors

And thus was one investor’s opinion of what happened on Wall Street on Tuesday.  Markets experienced a 2nd straight day of gains as the S&P added 1%,  oil stabilized and Caterpillar (one of the worst performing stock in the Dow this year) rebounded somewhat.  U.S. crude settled up 33 cents, or 0.92 percent, at $36.14 a barrel, which is still a multi year low for the commodity.

Bloomberg.com states:

“The Markets Are Getting Jumpier, and We Can’t Tell if That’s Good or Bad- From calm to stressed and back.” Read more here.

Check out a rundown of today’s market activity from CNBC below.

Here are the final numbers from Tuesday, 12/22/15 on Wall Street:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17, 417.41 (+165.79/ +0.96%)

NASDAQ: 5,001.11 (+32.19 / +0.65%)

S&P 500: 2,038.97 (+17.82 / +0.88%)

The Christmas shortened trading week on Wall Street began on an up note as the markets tried to stave off the massive losing streak from last week. Both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average are still negative year-to-date, down more than 1.5 percent and 3 percent.  The energy sector and specifically the cost of oil kept the attention of many investors for much of the day. The price for a barrel of crude settled down 25 cents at $35.81. Pavel Molchanov, energy analyst at Raymond James.

“It’s not like oil is directly responsible for why stocks dropped last week. The market is clearly concerned about global economic fundamentals. I expect oil to recover to around $60 a barrel in the second half of next year.”

According to the Fall 2015 CNBC Millionaire Survey-

Less than half of millionaires (46 percent) believe the S&P 500 will be up by 5 percent to 10 percent next year, representing a slight decline from the Spring 2015 survey. But significantly more millionaires think the S&P will be flat in 2016: 25 percent vs. 17 percent last spring. America’s rich have a sober outlook on the U.S. economy headed into 2016, with more millionaires assuming another year with a flat S&P 500 index leading to a lower personal rate of return and a majority belief among millionaires that household income will remain the same.

See more on CNBC’s Millionaire Survey below.

Here are the final numbers from Monday, 12/21/15 on Wall Street:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17, 251.42 (+122.87/ +0.72%)

NASDAQ: 4,968.92 (+45.84 / +0.93%)

S&P 500: 2,021.15 (+15.60 / +0.78%)

The last session of the trading week saw the 2nd consecutive day of big losses on Wall Street as investors struggled with oil and economic data in the aftermath of the Federal Reserve’s rate hike Wednesday. The Dow dropped over 370 points while the NASDAQ fell below 5,000. Ben Pace, chief investment officer at HPM Partners told CNBC:

“I think the fear is (the Fed) is starting to tighten in an economy that’s starting to weaken. There is also some disappointment around the level of stimulus measures from the Bank of Japan overnight.”

Timothy Hopper, chief economist at TIAA-CREF added:

“In the context of the Fed we’ve removed some uncertainty. There’s still some uncertainty about earnings going forward and you’re experiencing that with some volatility in market pricing.”

The continued free-fall of the price of oil, which has plunged from $100 per barrel in Sept. 2014 to under $35 a barrel currently is one of the big reasons investors have been so jittery and markets have been so volatile.  A key indicator may mean even more trouble for crude oil as CNBC reports below.

What’s behind the big drop in the price of oil?  Read more from The NY Times here.

Here are the final numbers from Friday, 12/18/15 on Wall Street:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17,128.45  (-367.39/ -2.10%)

NASDAQ: 4,923.08  (-79.47/ -1.59%)

S&P 500: 2,005.52  (-36.37 / -1.78%)

A day after the Fed decided to raise interest rates a quarter of a percent for the first time in a decade, the volatile price of oil along with the energy sector caused the markets to drop today. Energy finished down 2.5% to lead nearly all S&P 500 sectors lower in afternoon trade. U.S. crude settled down 57 cents, or 1.6 percent, at $34.95 an ounce.

David Schiegoleit, managing director of investments at U.S Bank Private Client Reserve explained today’s drop on Wall Street to CNBC:

“The action we saw yesterday I think was a relief rally. … This morning I think the market has moved beyond that. Oil continues to fall this morning. Energy shares have fallen and that has dragged the market down with it.”

Read more on what rising inteerst rates will mean to you at bloomberg.com.

See a review of today’s market activity from CNBC below.

Here are the final numbers from Thursday, 12/17/15 on Wall Street:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17,495.84  (-253.25/ -1.43%)

NASDAQ: 5,002.55  (-68.58/ -1.35%)

S&P 500: 2,041.89  (-31.18 / -1.50%)

As was expected The Federal Open Market Committee today approved a quarter-point increase in its target funds rate. The new target will go from 0 percent to 0.25 percent to 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent. The Federal Funds Rate has remained at zero for the last 7 years to support the recovery of the economy from the financial crisis. The stock market has boomed during the period of zero rates, rising 207 percent since the March 2009 low point. Today’s first rate hike since 2006 pleased investors.  All the major indices saw big gains today.

In a press conference following the Fed statement release:

Fed Chair Janet Yellen said not to overblow the significance of the first hike and that policy remains accommodative. She also said “persistent changes” in market conditions would be needed to move the Fed off track.

See more of Janet Yellen‘s press conference below.

Housing starts rose 10.5 percent in November, while building permits rose 11 percent. Mortgage refinances rose 1 percent on rate fears.

More on today’s announcement on a Federal Funds Rate hike from CNBC below:

Here are the final numbers from Wednesday, 12/16/15 on Wall Street:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17, 749.09 (+224.18/ +1.28%)

NASDAQ: 5,071.13 (+75.78 / +1.52%)

S&P 500: 2,073.07 (+29.66 / +1.45%)

On the day prior to the start of the Federal Open Market Committee’s two day series of meetings to decide whether to raise interest rates, stocks saw gains across the board. The rise was helped in part by the stabilization of the price of oil which settled up $1.04, or 2.86 percent, at $37.35 a barrel.

Jeremy Klein, chief market strategist at FBN Securities told CNBC:

“I think guys are now at the point they’re just trying to get a position ahead of the Fed.There’s still a little uncertainty. That’s why I think you can still slingshot higher after the Fed decision.”

Meanwhile, David Kelly, chief global strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds said:

“Core inflation is gradually moving up. The risk of seeing internally generated deflation is very low and this report will only serve to support the Fed raising rates.”

Watch more of why stocks rose ahead of the Fed’s big gathering tomorrow on CNBC below.

Here are the final numbers from Tuesday, 12/15/15 on Wall Street:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17, 524.91 (+156.41/ +0.90%)

NASDAQ: 4,995.36 (+43.13 / +.87%)

S&P 500: 2,043.41 (+21.47 / +1.49%)