Friends
It was a difficult day for stocks and bonds. First, bond prices dipped as the 10-year Treasury note’s yield climbed to 1.87%. Stocks sold off from the opening bell and never really recovered. No reversals today. The big banks have had quite a run as we entered earnings season, but Goldman Sachs was another stock that sold off even after pretty decent earnings, similar to JP Morgan Chase last week.
As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 543 points to finish the day at 35,368. The S&P 500 was down 85 points to close at 4,577. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 386 points to close at 14,506. Gold was down $2 to trade at $1,813, while oil was up $1.98 to trade at $85.80 per barrel WTI.
Earnings season has begun and this week we will hear from Procter & Gamble, Intel, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, United Health Group, United Airlines, Baker Hughes, Travelers, Netflix and Schlumberger. Things really pick up over the next couple of weeks. As we have mentioned, expect heightened volatility for a while. Stocks are facing some new headwinds and valuations had been stretched. We’ll stay buckled up, as the ride might be choppy for a while. But as we always say, volatility is the price an investor must pay to get on the ride, or differently said to get the type of returns we have seen over the past few years.
Have a nice evening everyone.
