After a string of five record closes, the S&P 500 ended the day with a fractional loss, down 0.07%. The index opened lower and quickly hit its -0.38% intraday low. It recovered its moring loss by the noon hour but spent the afternoon struggling with yesterday's record close as a glass ceiling. A small surge about 15 minutes before the close gave hopes of a sixth consecutive record close, but it was not to be.

The bond market reopened following the Veterans Day closure, but the 10-year Note ended the day at 2.37% 1 bp below Monday's close.

Here is a 15-minute chart of the the past five sessions.

Trading volume in the SPY ETF, which gives a better sense of investor participation (or lack thereof), was up only slightly.

A Perspective on Drawdowns

How close was the October dip to an "official" correction, generally defined as a 10% drawdown from a high (based on daily closes)? The chart below incorporates a percent-off-high calculation to illustrate the drawdowns greater than 5% since the trough in 2009.

For a longer-term perspective, here is a pair of charts based on daily closes starting with the all-time high prior to the Great Recession.