Friends
That last time we saw inflation this high was 1982. Today’s Consumer Price Index showed a year over year increase in prices of 6.8%. The question continues to be will some of those pricing pressures wane over time once/if the pandemic runs its course, or are we actually heading into a hyper inflationary period. For those of you younger folks (and you know who you are), you really haven’t seen anything like that.
Despite the news on inflation, which was somewhat known/expected- thus not a surprise, stocks moved higher throughout the trading session. By the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 216 points to finish the day at 35,970. The S&P 500 was up 44 points to close at 4,712. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 113 points to close at 15,630. Gold was up $6 to trade at $1,783 per ounce, while oil was up $1.04 to trade at $71.98 per barrel WTI.
After two somewhat difficult weeks for stocks, the bulls were able to rally the troops and move the market averages nicely higher for the week. We are now moving into the period where we sometimes get that final holiday rally into the new year. But this year we have two new headwinds to face- inflation and a less accommodating Federal Reserve. Should make for an interesting few weeks ahead. Stay tuned.
Have a great weekend everyone.
