Friends
Home prices inched up, although less than expected, but even with better pricing, existing home sales were much weaker than expected. Maybe buyers want new homes as evidenced by yesterday’s robust new home sales number. Whatever the case, housing has been this week’s economic focal point and once again it is somewhat a mixed picture.
As for stocks, it was a rather quiet session until the last hour of trading when an already downward move in stocks turned a little nastier. By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 65 points to finish the day at 18,481. The S&P 500 was down 11 points to close at 2175. Gold was down $17 to trade at $1,328 per ounce, while oil was down $1.40 to trade at $46.70 per barrel WTI.
The anticipated get together at Jackson Hole Wyoming begins tomorrow, and we’ll get Janet Yellen’s speech on Friday. I don’t know if traders want to step in front of that one. Stay tuned.
Have a nice evening everyone.
