Friends
Stocks had a somewhat quiet day as the only economic news of consequence was the NAHB housing index number (the higher the better) which came in at 28 (consensus estimate was 30). It broke a 5 month improving trend and signals that we are not out of the woods yet on housing. The other big news of the day came from Apple which announced a stock buyback and quarterly dividend to begin later this year. Basically, Apple is the market these days, which is a little disconcerting, but it is what it is.
For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 6 points to close at 13,239. The S&P 500 did better rising 5 points to close at 1409. Gold was up $7 to finish near $1663 per ounce, and oil was up $.85 to trade near $107.91 per barrel WTI. As the week goes on we will be watching for any earnings pre-announcements as we get closer to a new earnings season. This is the time when companies that won’t make their numbers try to cushion the blow by warning investors ahead of time by guiding estimates lower.
In the meantime, treasury yields continued to rise today. We like rising rates for good reasons (strong economic activity or the lessoning of the fear trade), but a gradual move would be preferred. We’ll keep a close eye on yields for a while. They may give us the best indicator as to where we are heading both economically and in terms of stock prices.
Have a nice evening everyone.
