Friends
Punch bowl addicted traders were encouraged this morning as the GDP revision and the weekly unemployment claims number both were less than stellar, allowing the reality that bad news is good news once again for buyers of stocks. The “taper” talk, or when will the Fed begin to limit our intake of punch, so to speak, took a back seat today, as the belief that the Fed remains accommodating as long the economic numbers don’t improve too much, permeated the market. Stocks opened higher and held on to some of the gains throughout the session.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 21 points to finish the day at 15,324. The S&P 500 was up 6 points to close at 1654. Gold was up $22 to trade at $1414 per ounce, while oil was up $.49 to trade at $93.62 per barrel WTI. We seem to be stuck in a bit of a trading range as we approach the end of the month, as the S&P trades between 1637 and 1674.
We close out the month of May tomorrow, and it sure wasn’t a sell in May and go away month was it? We do seem to have hit a bit of a speed bump (and perhaps that is good) with regards to the discussion of when the Fed will begin to lessen its bond buying program. Market participants are attempting to determine just how stocks and bonds will react when the Fed begins to change course. We’ll let you know how the month wraps up tomorrow.
Have a nice evening everyone.
