Friends
The bulls tried to add to Friday’s somewhat unenthusiastic rally, but once again late in the trading session the sellers appeared and pushed stocks back into negative territory. As we have pointed out, rallies seem to be continuously met by waves of unyielding selling pressure. We have a big week of earnings releases ahead from retailers including Walmart and Home Depot tomorrow, TJX, Target and Lowes on Wednesday, and Kohls and Ross Stores on Thursday, among many others.
As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 26 points to finish the day at 32,223. The S&P 500 was down 15 points to close at 4,008. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 142 points to close at 11,662. Gold was up $16 to trade at $1,824 per ounce, while oil was up $3.57 to trade at $114.07 per barrel WTI.
Bond prices did rally a bit today as yields have fallen back off the levels reached a couple of weeks ago. But inflation continues to drive the narrative and the Fed’s hawkish monetary policy provides the biggest headwind for both fixed income and equity investors in the near and possibly intermediate future. Let’s see how the retailers are doing this week. Stay tuned.
Have a nice evening everyone.
