Friends
The market gods gave us a reprieve as we enter the 3 day weekend. Instead of panicking after another awful overnight session in Japan, traders fed off the rise in oil prices and drove stocks higher and higher as the trading session wore on. We did get a slightly better than expected retail sales number this morning, but followed that up with a less than encouraging consumer confidence number. Despite the looming 3 day weekend, the bulls were able to keep the bears at bay.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 313 points to finish the day at 15,973. The S&P 500 was up 35 points to close at 1864. Gold was down $8 to trade at $1,239 per ounce, while oil was finally up, posting a gain of $2.75 to trade at $28.98 per barrel WTI.
It’s likely that what we saw today was simply a counter trend rally, but we’ll take anything we can get at the moment. We know that corrections and even bear markets are part of the process to achieving long term success in investing, but when you are in the middle of them, they can be exasperating. Let’s catch our breath and enjoy the Presidents Day weekend. We’ll be back with you on Tuesday.
Have a great weekend everyone.
