Friends
As we began trading today, the news was definitely on the positive side, as on the domestic front, retailers reported a very strong “Black Friday”. Even more importantly we had rumors/news out of Europe that the IMF might just have the bazooka needed to buy troubled debt. Even though that was denied, the news was that the Germans were working on an idea to create a “two-tiered” Eurozone, with strong members uniting to save the weaker members. The result would be a new “Eurobond” that would allow the proceeds to be used to bail out the likes of Italy. Whether any of this is true or ends up coming to fruition is anyone’s guess, but at least for today stocks were buoyed by the news. Stocks rallied right from the start, but even though we had a little difficulty holding on to the gains in the last hour of trading, we rallied back towards the highs in the end.
After a 300 point move that lasted most of the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day up 291 points to close at 11,522. The S&P 500 was up 33 to close at 1192. Gold rallied $26 climbing to $1712. Oil was up $1.12 per barrel WTI, closing near $97.89. On a technical basis, the S&P held the 1157 level for the time being, which could provide a nice reference point, should the bulls get back in control. We will need to get back above 1205 to have any chance of anything serious developing to the upside before year end.
We will get a slew of economic reports this week. First we’ll have consumer confidence and investor confidence reports, followed by the ADP employment number, Chicago PMI, ISM manufacturing, and of course, the non-farm
payroll and unemployment numbers on Friday. Along with the retailers’ success over the weekend, we will get a good feel about the domestic economy as we head into the new year. The problem, of course, is that we have no idea what is
going to come out of Europe on a day to day basis.
We’ll let you know how the week unfolds. Maybe the bulls can build on today’s rally.
Have a nice evening everyone.
