Friends
Ok, everyone should be back from the Hamptons now and trading volume and interest should pick up. Today, we did see a bit of volatility as stocks spent time in both positive and negative territory. By the close, the bulls had the upper hand, but I wouldn’t call it a decisive victory. On the economic front, the ISM non-manufacturing (services) data was surprisingly bad, and feeds into the thought that the Fed might be less likely to consider a move in September.
As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 46 points to finish the day at 18,538. The S&P 500 was up 6 points to close at 2,186. Gold was up $26 to trade at $1,353 per ounce, while oil was up $.44 to trade at $44.88 per barrel WTI.
If the Fed is back in a holding pattern, market participants might be a bit more inclined to get a little more feisty as the TINA principle could be back in play. If the Fed is on hold until December, at least, then anything with a yield will be dear to investors. That includes dividend paying stocks, despite the fact that revenue growth has been nearly nonexistent. Anyway, let’s see how the first week in September plays out. Maybe we’ll start to get a feel for what’s in store.
Have a nice evening everyone.
