Friends
The new trading week got off to another volatile start. A 75 point early gain for the Dow turned into a loss by midday of more than 70 points. Stocks climbed back to near breakeven in late afternoon trading, so no real advantage was to be had by either the bulls or the bears when all was said and done. With the plethora of economic data that we received last week behind us, traders will be looking towards the release of the Fed minutes on Wednesday, as well as the beginning of earnings season as their guide for the week ahead.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 17 points to finish the day at 16,991. The S&P 500 was down 3 points to close at 1964. Gold was up $14 to trade at $1207 per ounce, while oil was up $.72 to trade at $90.46 per barrel WTI. Small cap stocks as measured by the Russell 2000 continue to fall and show no signs of reversing that trend.
Once again, traders will be focused on earnings season. Who will be harmed by the strong dollar? Who will suffer from the weakness in Europe? So far this year, earnings have been a little better than expected, but the quality of those earnings have been questioned. We elaborated in last quarter’s write up about buy backs and earnings quality. Let’s see how this earning season begins and the week plays out. Stay tuned.
Have a nice evening everyone.
