Friends
I’m back, so let’s dig right in. Today was Fed Statement day after yesterday and today’s 2-day meeting, and as expected there was no raising of interest rates and the statement in whole was very much like the March statement- mainly dovish in tone. Could there be a rate rise at the June meeting? Well, sure there could be, but it appears that Janet Yellen and Co. are content to wait until they feel the coast is clear- not locking themselves into any particular expectation, which they seemed to have done after last December’s meeting (and appeared to regret it later).
As for stocks, after drifting through most of the morning, the dovish tone to the Fed Statement seemed to stir the bulls into action driving prices higher; despite more difficult earnings reports (see Apple). By the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 51 points to finish the day at 18,041. The S&P 500 was up 3 points to close at 2095. Gold was up $3 to trade at $1,246 per ounce, while oil was up $1.27 to trade at $45.31 per barrel WTI.
As we find ourselves deeper into this earnings season, it appears that despite some decidedly weak earnings reports the market averages are going to hold on tight to the levels that we saw entering earnings season. Yes, we have seen some individual disasters, but the market as a whole is holding up well so far. We still have more to go so stay tuned.
Before we sign off today, I wanted to bring to everyone’s attention that we are hosting a Military Collection Drive at our office. It’s part of our “Cares Program” which you can read about on our web site. We’ve also included the press release below along with the requested items. We just like to keep you informed of what we’re up to here at CHJ.
Have a nice evening everyone.
