Friends
It was a difficult day for stocks today as traders were assaulted with bad news from every angle. Europe is just a mess, with politics changing almost daily over there, as unhappy citizens cast their displeasure with the medicine that is
austerity. Germany, the only hope, is showing weaker growth numbers, and the election in France could change the whole dynamic. Yes indeed, austerity is a touchy subject.
In addition to the troubles in Europe, over the weekend, a NY Times article exposed a possible bribery scandal in Mexico concerning Wal-Mart. Honestly, I don’t know why anyone would be surprised, but the shares were hammered and it set the tone for a difficult day. The rest of the week will be marked by a Fed meeting and a bevy of earnings (by the way, earnings beats are running at about 80% so far, if anyone cares). Of course, global macro news always seems to trump domestic news. Among the earnings that we get this week will be Apple after the close of trading tomorrow. That should be interesting.
For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 102 points to close at 12,926. The S&P 500 was down 11 to finish the day at 1366. Gold was down $3.60 to trade near $1639 per ounce, and oil was down $.83 to finish the day trading around $103.05 per barrel WTI (analysts are now calling for oil to fall below $100 per barrel soon – we’ll see).
It will be a news filled week, so buckle up and keep your arms and legs inside the ride.
Have a nice evening everyone.
