Friends
Stocks began the week on a good note today, as after an uneventful first hour of trading, shares began to rise and by midday we had ourselves a hundred point gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. By the close, stocks were able to hold on to most of their gains and the Dow finished up 95 points to close at 13,424. The S&P 500 was up 11 points to finish the day at 1440. Gold was down $21 to trade at $1738 per ounce, while oil was down just $.20 to trade at $91.66 per barrel WTI.
The economic news was mixed this morning. The retail sales number was better than expected, but the Empire State Manufacturing Survey’s general business conditions index was again on the negative side, but better than the awful September number. Tomorrow we get the CPI number and Industrial Production along with more corporate earnings reports.
On the technical front, the S&P briefly tested the 1425 level early in the session and bounced off it convincingly. That could be a good sign for the bulls, as buyers seem to be positioned at these important technical levels. Many of the largest hedge funds are way behind the averages as we enter the 4th quarter, so it’s not surprising that many of these support levels are being bought as they hold.
Let’s see if the bulls can muster a good showing this week. We have a lot of earnings reports to absorb.
Have a nice evening everyone.
