Friends
On the economic front, we had a great weekly jobless claims number this morning. Or did we? The Labor Department first reported that those filing for first time unemployment claims fell below 300,000 (292,000) for the first time since 2006. Unfortunately, it was quickly reported that 2 states were not able to report because of computer problems. One of these states is said to be a large state. Ok then. Anyway, the trend on claims still seems to be moving in a positive direction. We’ll have to wait until next week to see exactly where we stand.
As for stocks, the markets traded in a narrow range today, as after seven straight days of gains, traders seemed to be a bit out of gas. For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 26 points to close at 15,300. The S&P 500 was down 5 points to finish the day at 1683. Gold was down $41 to trade at $1322 per ounce, while oil was up $1.06 to trade at $108.62 per barrel WTI.
We get a plethora of economic data tomorrow morning, so we’ll see if the bulls can get back on track as the week ends. We would still like to see the bulls capture 1700 once again, before too long. If we stall out here, the bears might be able to take the ball back. Of course, traders just might want to sit on their hands until the Fed meeting next week. Let’s see how tomorrow plays out.
Have a nice evening everyone.
