Conflicting Reports

Dec 3, 2012 | Market Commentary

Friends

In economic news we got a somewhat mixed message this morning as the PMI Manufacturing Index came in better than expected, while the ISM Manufacturing Index was just shy of awful. The result was a minor rally on the first number and a giveback on the second. By the afternoon, Boehner had served up the House Republican’s most recent answer to last week’s Obama salvo. When it was all said and done, stocks spent the afternoon in negative territory.

For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 59 points to close at 12,956. The S&P 500 was down 6 points to finish the day at 1409. Gold was up just shy of $6 to trade at $1718 per ounce, while oil was basically unchanged ending the day near $89 per barrel WTI.

Besides the endless “fiscal cliff” nonsense, we get a bevy of economic numbers this week including Factory orders, the ISM-Non Manufacturing report, consumer sentiment and the government employment report on Friday. This week’s economic news will most likely give Dr. Bernanke cover to continue to provide quantitative easing. They have become quite good at it, you know.

Have a nice evening everyone.

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