Friends
In the aftermath of last week’s dreadful employment report, market participants seemed to be resigned to the fact that the Fed has to back off their intent to raise rates in June or July. Stocks rallied in early trading, dipped a little when Janet Yellen began to speak (around 11:30 our time), but quickly moved higher once again, once the Fed Chair’s comments were through. The Fed Chair did still reiterate the intent to raise rates a couple of times this year, but admitted that Friday’s jobs number was disappointing. The interpretation by the markets seems to be that June and July are out of the question, and that this “data dependent” Fed has no choice but to wait and see if the labor situation is truly deteriorating as recent data seems to indicate.
As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 113 points to finish the day at 17,920. The S&P 500 was up 10 points to close at 2109. Gold was up $5 to trade at $1,248 per ounce, while oil was up $1.09 to trade at $49.71 per barrel.
Rising stock prices were not in the cards for many market pundits and you can sense the pain the bears must be feeling. This bull market has been unloved for 7 years now, but recently the hate has been palpable. Today was Yellen’s last public comments before next week’s FOMC meeting, so market participants will be watching economic data points for any clues as to what direction the Fed might take. Of course, there won’t be another employment number until after this meeting, so it would appear likely that a June move is off the table.
I’ve linked to a spot that Financial Advisor Consultant Nick Murray did with business journalist Consuela Mack a few weeks ago. It gives a perspective to investing that I don’t think gets enough consideration in today’s headlines driven pessimistically frantic media driven investment advice. If you can, take a few minutes to watch. I think you’ll enjoy it. Let me know what you think or if you have any questions or thoughts.
Have a nice evening everyone.
