Friends
Stocks once again, drifted in negative territory for most of the trading session as the continued drum beat of negative economic data, falling oil prices, and a deteriorating situation in the industrial sector overshadowed some good earnings from the big pharmaceutical companies. In addition, market participants, while not expecting much in terms of any action, are waiting to see what the FOMC statement will look like tomorrow.
For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 41 points to close at 17,581. The S&P 500 was down 5 points to finish the day at 2065. Gold was down a fraction to trade at $1166 per ounce, while oil was down another $.80 to trade at $43.18 per barrel WTI.
Apple’s earnings come after the close today, so that will give television pundits plenty of material for this evening and tomorrow morning. By tomorrow afternoon, however, attention will turn to the Fed. The global slowdown sure seems to be dragging the U.S. along with it. GDP forecasts continue to be ratcheted down (we’ll see the first read on the 3rd quarter on Thursday), so it seems unlikely that the Fed will be very hawkish in their statement tomorrow. Of course, they have surprised up before.
Have a nice evening everyone.
