Friends
Stocks seemed determined today to set a new high for the Dow and establish a new closing high for the S&P 500. Traders had to sort through a bevy of economic reports as the durable goods orders soared led by aircraft orders (the underlying core was weak though), the S&P Case-Shiller Housing Price Index was positive again, new home sales numbers were just ok, and consumer confidence numbers were weaker than expected. All in all, it was a “doesn’t matter” day and traders decided to buy as we close in on the quarter-end.
For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 111 points to close at 14,559. The S&P 500 failed to close at a new all-time high, but did rise a tasty 12 points to finish the day at 1563. Gold was down $5 to trade at $1599 per ounce, while oil was up $1.42 to trade at $96.23 per barrel WTI.
As I mentioned, it may take several whacks at it before we get through the old high on the S&P, and that is very normal. I’m more interested in what happens once we clear the hurdle (assuming we eventually will). Will we continue to rally to new highs into the spring, or will we be facing the old “sell in May and go away” adage as the summer approaches? Remember, the theme is that we are in a “Tina” market (there is no alternative) right now with stocks. But as we mentioned yesterday, and at other times this year, the financial and economic problems that we face domestically (mainly political) and around the world don’t seem to matter right now, until they do. We’ll enjoy the rally, but will be diligently aware of the global risks.
Have a nice evening everyone.
