Friends
Stocks struggled for most of the day but did finish off the lows. As we continue to hit new highs in the S&P 500 it is interesting to see how narrow the advance in stocks has been this year. The S&P is up about 14% for the year but if you look at other indices you see a different picture. For instance, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up only about 2.40% for the year. Stocks overseas as measured by the Vanguard VXUS ETF are up about 4.11%. The equal weighted S&P as measured by the RSP ETF is up about 3.60%. Small caps as measured by the Russel 2000 IWM ETF are down 1.22%. And finally, bonds as measured by the Vanguard total bond market ETF BND are down about 1.24% for the year. All this simply illustrates that a small group of stocks in the S&P 500 are accounting for most of the gains we have seen to date in 2024.
As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 57 points to finish the day at 38,589. The S&P 500 was down 2 points to close at 5,431. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 21 points to close at 17,688. Gold was up $31 to trade at $2,349 per ounce, while oil was down $.10 to trade at $78.52 per barrel WTI.
The markets had a lot to deal with this week including inflation data and a Fed decision. All in all, the bulls have to feel pretty good about things despite the narrowness of the move we just illustrated above. It will be interesting to see what provides a catalyst for stocks over the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
Have a great weekend everyone.
