The three major domestic equity markets finished up this week despite back-to-back triple digit losses in the Dow Thursday and Friday. The Dow ended up 2.31%, the S&P 2.27%, and the Nasdaq 3.58%. The markets ignored an upbeat jobs report Thursday and chose to focus on the growing European financial crisis.

The large losses at the end of the week were unsettling, but the week didn’t point towards a trend of loss, as we ended the week higher. Rather, it points towards volatility.  Large swings in both directions have been the norm these past few weeks. While it is emotionally taxing, we remain confident that the volatile numbers will still give way to a general uptrend.

Next week, the markets’ focus will remain on Europe. In recent weeks the trend has been to sell stocks at the end of the week. Unless something significant happens, we suspect that trend will continue in the near term.

This week’s factoid:  The term “greenback” for the Dollar comes from the nickname of Demand Notes first issued between August 1861 and April 1862 during the Civil War. The first type of paper money to achieve wide circulation, the Demand Notes were nicknamed “greenbacks” because of the distinct green color used on their reverse side.