Friends
Another day with a distinctly positive bias, but very calm in nature. Buoyed by a Chinese market that bounced overnight and early strength in the Euro, traders bid stocks up right at the opening this morning, and we spent the rest of the day trying to hold on to the gains in both stocks and the Euro. At the end, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 69 points to finish the day at 12,462. The S&P 500 was up 11 points to close at 1292. Gold had a nice day rallying $24 to close near $1632. Oil was up over $.88 to finish above $102 per barrel WTI.
On a technical basis we are off to a good start for the year, but we sure would like to see the S&P hold these levels (October high of 1286) and take a run at 1300 and beyond. We have failed at these levels several times over the last few months, and another failure would dampen the spirits of traders. If we can hold, then close higher this week, it might make for the beginnings of a good first quarter of the year for stocks. Remember, by all accounts, hedge funds are conspicuously underinvested in stocks as we enter the year, and would hate to be left behind if a first quarter rally is perceived to be in the works. Earnings season will really get going over the next couple of weeks, and Europe is in the news daily, so we will have plenty of headlines to drive the direction of stocks over the next few weeks.
We’ll keep you informed.
Have a nice evening everyone.
