Friends
The bulls came back from the three day weekend raring to go as stocks rose over 200 Dow points in early morning trading. Encouraged by good news on housing (prices nationwide are up 10.9% over the past 12 months), and a surprisingly good consumer confidence number (the best in 5 years), traders took a decidedly bullish stance. It is Tuesday after all, and the last 19 Tuesdays have seen stock prices rise. As the day wore on, the market gave back much of its early gains, only to hold on at the close.
When it was all said and done, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 106 points to close at 15,409 (yes, that’s 20 up Tuesdays in a row). The S&P 500 was up 10 points to finish the day at 1660. Gold was down $6 to trade at $1380 per ounce, while oil was up $.95 to trade at $95.10 per barrel WTI.
The other story we are watching is the gradual tick up in interest rates. The 10 year treasury note is now trading above 2% and creeping higher. How will investors react when interest rates rise and bond prices fall? We are curious to see. It’s been a long time since it has happened and there is a whole lot of money in bonds. Let’s keep an eye on that 10 year note. It may give us a clue as to where we go from here in the stock market.
Have a nice evening everyone.
