Friends
Stocks seemed to be just meandering along, when a report that Wal-Mart might be having a difficult quarter on the retail front sent stocks firmly into negative territory, where they languished for the remainder of the day. On the economic front, Durable Goods Orders for August were slightly better than expected, but July’s number was revised down creating another mixed signal. New Home Sales were up nicely in August but actually a little less than expected. Once again, economic data points continue to give a mixed picture.
As for stocks, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 61 points to finish the day at 15,273. The S&P 500 was down 4 points to close at 1692. Gold was up $17 to trade at $1334 per ounce, while oil was down $.78 to trade at $102.35 per barrel WTI. This is the first 5 day losing streak for stocks in quite some time.
We’ll get a look at the weekly jobless claims tomorrow, but the major fireworks on both the economic and political front will be in full view beginning next week. Indeed, we have seen five down days in a row, but not that much damage has been done, to this point. We’ll see if the bulls can circle the wagons and attempt to recapture that 1700 level on the S&P by the end of the week.
Have a nice evening everyone.
