Friends
Weak economic news out of China led to a rally in Chinese stocks (bad news is good news=stimulus), which spilled over into our markets this morning. Couple that with an overdue bounce, after seven straight down days (as measured by the Dow), and stocks enjoyed a nice broad based rally, at least for today. Shares rallied from the opening bell and were able to add to the gains as the trading session wore on.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 241 points to finish the day at 17,615. The S&P 500 was up 26 points to close at 2104. Gold was up $8 to trade at $1102 per ounce, while oil was up $.93 to trade at $44.80 per barrel WTI.
This week’s economic calendar is lighter than the past few, but we will get JOLTS (job openings) on Wednesday, retail sales on Thursday, and consumer sentiment on Friday. Earnings season has just about wound down, so now we enter the dog days of summer. The next Fed meeting isn’t until September, so market participants will be monitoring speeches and appearances by Fed officials for the next several weeks, looking for hints of just when the first rate hike is coming. Let’s see what this week has in store.
Have a nice evening everyone.
