Friends
There was a valiant effort by the bulls to reverse a sizable early day selloff, but in the end higher oil prices and higher interest rates were just too much of a headwind to stocks. Oil prices have moved up for weeks now and $100 per barrel WTI appears to be in the sights of the oil bulls at the moment. And, of course, you know that bond yields continue to push higher which has become a headwind that the bulls have just not been able to negotiate. In the end it wasn’t a terrible day for stocks, but not terrible is becoming the new good lately.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 68 points to finish the day at 33,550. The S&P 500 was up 1 point to close at 4,274. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 29 points to close at 13,092. Gold was down $26 to trade at $1,893 per ounce, while the aforementioned oil was up $3.39 to trade at $93.78 per barrel WTI. Gold has not reacted well to higher interest rates and a stronger dollar recently.
We are seeing rates on longer term bonds at levels we haven’t seen in more than a decade. The 10-year Treasury Note was trading with at 4.60 yield near the close of trading today. The 20-year Treasury bond as measured by the TLT exchange traded fund is down more than 45% from its all-time high in December of 2019. Bonds have become more of the story for now. Stocks are just along for the ride.
Have a nice evening everyone.
