Friends
The 3rd quarter of 2021 ended with a thud. It was a challenging quarter for the bulls as the market averages attempted in vain to make new highs but faced difficult head winds. Inflation, interest rates, the Fed’s plan to tighten, the Delta variant, China, pending political decisions and the simple fact that stocks weren’t particularly cheap all formed a formidable head wind for stocks to navigate.
As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 546 points to finish the day at 33,843. The S&P 500 was down 51 points to close at 4,307. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 63 points to close at 14,448. Gold was up $33 to trade at $1,756 per ounce, while oil was up $.44 to trade at $75.27 per barrel WTI.
The Nasdaq was the best performing index of the three that we follow on a daily basis today as bargain hunters were actively buying early in the day. But, by the close, selling showed up everywhere and the bears were left holding the high ground. Interestingly, bonds were not the cause of any of the selling today as prices were firm while yields slipped lower. Both the Dow and the Nasdaq were down for the quarter while the S&P 500 about broke even. Ok, the 3rd quarter is behind us now. Let’s get ready for the mad dash into the end of the year. First up will be an interesting earnings season, one where comparisons year over year will set a bar which is going to be more difficult for companies to hurdle. Stay tuned, we’ll keep you up to date as we go.
Have a nice evening everyone.
