Friends
Traders shook off some disturbing economic news today and bid up stocks as we come to the end of the 3rd quarter. First, we got the final revision of the 2nd quarter GDP which settled at up only 1.3% (remember, at first look we were around 2%). We also received a disastrous Durable Goods number. On the slightly positive side, we did see a slight improvement in the weekly unemployment claims number. But the main catalysts to the upside seemed to be signs in China that stimulus could be forthcoming , and the news of the Spanish budget (yeah, I know – Spain’s budget?).
For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 72 points to close at 13,485. The S&P 500 was up 13 points to finish the day at 1447. Gold was up $26 to trade at $1779 per ounce, while oil was up $2.13 to trade at $92.11 per barrel WTI.
My take on today’s action is that we held the 1425 to 1430 area on the S&P 500 yesterday and traders used that technical support level holding serve as a signal to buy stocks into the end of the quarter. We’ll see if the bulls can finish the job tomorrow.
Have a nice evening everyone.
