Friends
May is finally over, and it was not a good one for stocks or commodities. With the domestic economic numbers definitely slowing somewhat, coupled with the continuing drain that is the European dilemma, investors have chosen to accept zero interest rates instead of dealing with the volatility that the stock market has presented again this year. On the economic front the jobless claims number was a bit worse than hoped for with the new claims number at 383,000. The ADP private payroll number was also slightly disappointing with only 133,000 new private payroll jobs created in May. Lastly, the GDP was revised downward, as expected, coming in at 1.9% growth vs. the 2.2% that was first reported. Taken in whole, the domestic picture, though considerably better than Europe, is definitely showing signs of slowing.
For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 25 points to close at 12,394, which represents a decline of more than 6 % for May. The S&P 500 was down 3 points to close at 1310, which is also more than a 6% drop in May. Gold was basically flat for the day, trading at $1564 per ounce. Oil was down another $1.27 to finish trading at $86.59. Oil was really crushed during the month, and although energy stocks felt the pain, the U.S. consumer should be the beneficiary.
Remember, tomorrow is the government non-farm payroll number. Buckle your seatbelts. I’m just glad May is over, again.
Have a nice evening everyone.
