Friends
Stocks once again leaned to the negative side of the ledger for most of today’s trading session, but as has been the case for a while now, there was very little volatility. The retail sales number was a little light, but not bad, and the CPI number was about as expected, but neither seemed to spark any interest. Retail stocks have been hammered this week, but that is more about Amazon basically destroying the retail landscape than it is about the consumer. We seem to have a good combination of spending and saving going on in the U. S. right now.
As for today’s numbers, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 24 points to finish the day at 20,894. The S&P 500 was down 3 points to close at 2,390. Gold was up $4 to trade at $1,228 per ounce, while oil was up $.07 to trade at $47.90 per barrel WTI.
In general is was a down week for stocks, and especially a down week for old school retailers, but hardly one that the bears will celebrate this weekend. Of course, political headlines continue to be never-ending, but the stock market almost seems numb to them. As mentioned earlier in the week, the quiet is almost eerie. Let’s see if anything changes next week.
Have a great weekend everyone.
