Friends
For the most part, Monday’s have been disastrous all year long. That is not uncommon when you consider the bull market move we have seen in stocks. Basically, that reasoning goes that the doubters come in at the beginning of the week certain that this week is going to be the one that signals the end to this up move. They sell in anticipation that they will be able to buy back cheaper. Unfortunately for these folks, it seems like every Tuesday has seen stocks go right back up and then they spend the rest of the week chasing the same names that they sold on Monday.
But today, we broke the mold as stocks were up early in the trading session and held onto the gains all through the day. Never mind, that today’s economic news (Dallas Fed Manufacturing Survey) continued to paint a picture of a somewhat anemic economy. For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 106 points to close at 14,818. The S&P 500 was up 11 points to finish the day at 1593. Gold was up $16 to trade at $1470 per ounce while oil was up $1.30 to trade at $94.30 per barrel WTI. The only thing the bears can take away from today’s action is that the S&P was not able to close at the all-time trading high. Other than that, the bulls win the day.
This week will wrap up the bulk of earnings season. Again, the trend has been that companies have been beating, for the most part, the reduced bottom line estimates, but have continued to come in light on the top line (revenues). Also, companies have been cautious about the outlook for the next couple of quarters (that’s not really new). Of course, we have the Fed meeting this week (don’t expect anything earth shattering to come from that) and the all-important non-farm payroll number on Friday. Should be an interesting week.
Have a nice evening everyone.
