Friends
Fears that the GOP can’t get together to get its own health care bill passed in the House (remember, all they need is their own party members to pass it), contributed to an uneasiness that was building since yesterday’s House Intelligence Committee testimonies. Market participants appeared to be feeling the uneasiness as stocks reversed an early rally and set course on the first real bad day for the market averages we have seen in some time. Remember, there is somewhat of a void of economic data this week (other than housing data) and we don’t get to another round of corporate earnings for a few weeks.
As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 237 points to finish the day at 20,668. The S&P 500 was down 29 points to close at 2,344. Gold was up $11 to trade at $1,245 per ounce, while oil was down $.88 to trade at $47.50 per barrel WTI.
Interestingly, bonds continue to rally and the dollar continues to decline. One might have expected that with the recent Fed rate hike and seemingly a commitment to future rate hikes, that bond prices might be under pressure and that the dollar would strengthen. None of that is happening at the moment. Indeed, there are some confusing signals at the moment. Let’s see how and when they resolve themselves.
Have a nice evening everyone.
