Yellen to hold press conference on Wednesday

 Odds favor a  spike in stock prices this week if the Fed Chief Janet Yellen implies that interest rates won’t edge up until Q2 next year or later when she holds her press conference Wednesday at 2:30.

Nevertheless, the potential for a sharp correction in coming weeks increases as uncertainties mount here and abroad to keep buyers on the sidelines and prompt others to sell.

We have seen worse negatives in recent years, but not with the market at these levels. While this bull market can run much further, the market has not seen a correction greater than 10% in three years.

From what I read, there is no shortage on the Street of those who expect a correction, but I haven’t seen many who see one in excess of 10%, just the 3%-5% variety. But small corrections can become much bigger if new negatives hit the market at the point the small correction is poised for a rebound.   

Janet Yellen net worth rises

Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s assets were valued at $5.3 million to $14.1 million last year compared with a range of $4.8 million to $13.2 million in 2012, according to financial disclosure documents released today. The assets are listed in ranges, so determining a precise valuation isn’t possible from the documents.

Yellen and her husband, Nobel laureate economist George Akerlof, reported a mix of investments, with individual stock holdings in companies such as Houston-based ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. energy company, and a variety of mutual funds.

Low interest rates have punished savers, pushing them into higher-yielding, riskier investments. The Fed chair also had a stake in the Vanguard High Yield Corporate Fund, which invests in high-yielding corporate debt. Yellen also has investments in savings plans at the University of California, Berkeley, where she was a professor.

Her disclosures again noted that she has a stamp collection valued at $15,001 to $50,000, unchanged from the range in previous filings.