Friends
Stocks had quite a roller coaster ride today, as an up opening quickly melted into a downward plunge before the lunch hour, only to rally by early afternoon. The retail sales number was a bit disappointing, but the main culprit in the downward move after a quick up opening was the weakness in the bond market. The 10 year treasury note climbed above 2.70% in early trading and stocks sold off in sympathy. Fed Governor Dennis Lockhart expressed caution on the taper talk in a speech late in the morning, and that dovish assessment sent stocks climbing back into positive territory. In the late afternoon, news that Hedge Fund activist Carl Icahn had taken a stake in Apple finally got the business news folks to stop talking about JC Penny, and seemed to help keep the averages in positive territory for the day.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 31 points to finish the day at 15,451. The S&P 500 was up 4 points to close at 1694. Gold was down $13 to trade at $1320 per ounce, while oil was up $.42 to trade at $106.53 per barrel.
Despite the positive close in the averages, the market seems tired, as buyers seem reluctant to put new money to work. The bears have had their chance to do some damage over the past couple of weeks, but have yet to inflict any real damage on the bulls. The bulls on the other hand need to get the S&P back above 1700 to gain any real traction. Let’s see how the week plays out.
Have a nice evening everyone.
