Friends
Amongst the debris of soft economic data and lukewarm earnings reports, stocks were able to post small gains for the week, which is surprising given the way the week began. I wouldn’t declare victory for the bulls, any more than I would have for the bears earlier in the week. A choppy earnings season=a choppy market.
For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 74 points to close at 17,215. The S&P 500 was up 9 points to close at 2033. Gold was down $7 to trade at $1180 per ounce, while oil was up $.92 to trade at $47.30 per barrel WTI.
As mentioned, economic data remains soft, inflation remains muted, and corporate earnings are struggling just to maintain the levels of profitability that were attained in the past few years. If the Fed didn’t move last month, I don’t see any new data that would prompt them to move for the balance of the year. But then again, we aren’t really sure just what will move them when they move. Indeed, the only thing that seems to be moving are the goal posts.
Have a great weekend everyone.
