Friends
Six out of the last seven trading days have seen stocks looking somewhat weary. If not for last Friday’s rally, we would be talking about a measurable (but not significant, yet) pullback. Sure, market averages are still hanging around all-time highs, but the bulls have had a difficult time moving the needle recently. With the focus on politics (a deal done by the end of the week?) and the upcoming Fed meeting next week, traders seem to be content to just sit tight until we get a read from the Fed on whether the taper could begin before the end of the year (that would be a surprise and a potential market moving event, by the way, should it occur).
As for today’s trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 52 points to finish the day at 15,973. The S&P 500 was down 5 points to close at 1802. Gold rallied, as the precious metal was up $28 to trade at $1262 per ounce, while oil was up $1.10 to trade at $98.44 per barrel WTI.
As mentioned, despite the recent weakness, because of last Friday’s gains there has been little damage to the market averages. Let’s see if the bulls can contain the damage as they have done so far, or will the bears finally make a dent in this year’s market gains?
Have a nice evening everyone.
