Friends
The bears were back in control again today as stocks suffered sizable losses throughout the trading session. The bulls attempt to rally the troops and add onto yesterday’s gains fell flat despite some good economic news including a great ISM non-manufacturing number which saw the July reading much improved from June’s and the best we have seen in the “recovery”. Unfortunately, news about troops amassing in the Russia/Ukraine conflict trumped any good domestic economic news.
Nevertheless, by the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 139 points to finish the day at 16,429. The S&P 500 was down 18 points to close at 1920. Gold was up a fraction to trade at $1289 per ounce, while oil was down $.69 to trade at $97.60 per barrel WTI.
Despite the global concerns, there are signs of technical deterioration which have market participants fearing that a real market correction is upon us. The Dow is in negative territory for the year now, and the S&P is up less than 4% YTD after being up more than 8%. Perhaps this is similar in nature and size to February’s pullback. Whatever the case, the bears have the upper hand at the moment. Let’s see if the bulls can turn the tide as the week progresses.
Have a nice evening everyone.
