Friends
I am back in the saddle today as the markets open up for business in this last week of the year. Today was a total snoozer (and that’s not always a bad thing). Stocks barely moved all day long as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 2 points for the day to close at 12,291. The S&P 500 was up less than a point to finish the day at 1265. Gold was off $11 to finish the day at $1595, and oil buoyed, again, by Middle East tensions was back up over $100 per barrel trading near $101.20 by the end of the day.
The only significant news was a surprisingly positive consumer confidence number which was the best since April, released by The Conference Board. Recent improvement in employment numbers seems to have given consumers the confidence to spend this Holiday season. Those seeking jobs seem to be giving more positive feedback in terms of availability. Other than keeping an eye on Italian bond auctions, traders seem to be just waiting for the year to end.
We’ll let you know how things turn out this week, but it looks to be a slow one indeed.
