Friends
Stocks posted gains on this last trading day of June, but those gains were much larger midday (the Dow sporting a nearly 300 point gain at one point). The last 2 hours of trading saw most of those gain evaporate. Today was a good example of how difficult the first half of the year was for traders.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 55 points to finish the day at 24,271. The S&P 500 was up 2 points to close at 2,718. Gold was up $2 to trade at $1,253 per ounce, while oil was up $.80 to trade at $74.25 per barrel WTI.
For the first half of the year the Dow posted a slight loss, while the S&P 500 had a slight gain. Given the volatility that we have seen year to date, it is almost a moral victory that we were able to escape unscathed. We have earnings season coming up and as we look into the second half of the year, the economy and corporate earnings are in pretty good shape, but the markets are concerned about the damage that trade wars could do to the economy and those corporate earnings. Buckle up for the second half of 2018.
Have a great weekend everyone.
