Friends
Well, that was fun. It wasn’t a surprise that stocks sold off this morning after yesterday’s 1000 point Dow rally. As late as the second to last hour of trading, the Dow was sporting a rather hideous 600 point decline. But, by the closing bell all the losses had been erased and another 250 points were tacked on to the Dow on the upside. That’s a more than 850 point climb off the lows. What moved stocks today? There was really no fundamental reason for any of this today. We are in a bit of a silly season and with two trading sessions left in 2018 it’s likely to continue for at least a couple more days.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 260 points to finish the day at 23,138. The S&P 500 was up 21 points to close at 2,488. Gold was up $4 to trade at $1,277 per ounce, while oil was down $.81 to trade at $45.41 per barrel WTI.
For sure, many institutions need to rebalance portfolios by year end, which could account for some of the buying we are seeing yesterday and today. As stock prices declined, they became a smaller portion of the portfolio so to get back to the proper allocation stocks have to be added. Regardless, the next couple of trading sessions should be “interesting”. Stay buckled up and keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times.
Have a nice evening everyone.
