# Stock surge masks troubling market weakness

> The S&P 500 jumped 1.5% on Monday, but more stocks hit 52-week lows than highs, a pattern unseen since December 1999, just before the Dotcom Bubble burst.
- Title: Stock surge masks troubling market weakness · CNBC | Shortify
- Summary: The S&P 500 jumped 1.5% on Monday, but more stocks hit 52-week lows than highs, a pattern unseen since December 1999, just before the Dotcom Bubble burst…
- Keywords: s&p 500, nasdaq composite, stock market, 52-week lows, dotcom bubble, market weakness, business, finance, Stock, surge, masks, troubling
- Source: CNBC — https://cnbc.com/2026/09/21/stocks-had-a-great-day-on-the-surface-but-something-alarming-occurred-not-seen-since-1999.html
- Author: Sean Conlon
- Published: 2026-09-21T20:26:37+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: s&p 500, nasdaq composite, stock market, 52-week lows, dotcom bubble, market weakness, business, finance
## Strong gains hide weakness
The Nasdaq Composite surged two percent to a new record on Monday. The S&P 500 jumped about one point five percent and now sits less than one percent below a new high.
## More stocks fell than rose
Yet more S&P 500 stocks hit new 52-week lows on Monday than reached fresh highs. Thirty stocks fell to new lows while only seven reached new highs.
## Pattern echoes 1999 warning
The last time the S&P 500 advanced at least one percent to within one percent of a new high while new lows outnumbered new highs was December twenty-first, nineteen ninety-nine, months before the Dotcom Bubble peaked.
## Only other match was 1929
According to Jason Goepfert, founder of SentimenTrader, the only other time in history this dynamic played out was July twenty-third, nineteen twenty-nine, before the Great Depression.
## Leadership concentrated in few sectors
Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth, says gains came from communication services, information technology and consumer discretionary. Information technology sits less than one percent from a fresh high, but communication services and consumer discretionary lag at four percent and seven percent below their highs.
## More weakness likely ahead
Hogan said the market could see more trading days like this if sentiment stays subdued amid Middle East tensions. He warned new highs are unlikely if war persists, energy prices stay high and the Fed continues raising rates.

> We're not going to make new highs in this market if the war persists, energy prices remain stubbornly high and the Fed has to continue to hike rates.
## Key takeaway

The S&P 500 rose 1.5% on Monday but more stocks fell to 52-week lows than reached highs, a dynamic last seen in December 1999 before the Dotcom Bubble.