Friends
The stock market continues to be influenced by the bond market, as today’s action illustrated. What looked like early morning strength quickly melted into weakness as soon as the yield in the 10 year treasury headed toward 2.85% (remember yields up means bond prices down). Fear of Fed tapering has spooked the bond market and the speed of the move has been somewhat alarming. Stocks suffered a difficult week as buyers were nowhere to be found.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 30 points to finish the day at 15,082. The S&P 500 was down 5 points to close at 1655. Gold was up $11 to trade at $1372 per ounce, while oil was up $.39 to trade at $107.72 per barrel WTI. The S&P held right around its 50 day moving average, but there was some technical damage done this week.
Next week, we’ll get the Fed minutes on Wednesday and market participants will be watching the get together in Jackson Hole Wyoming to see if any news is made during those economic presentations and speeches. The bulls have been quieted the past couple of weeks. Is this the start of a more serious pullback? Seasonally, September can be a difficult month. We’ll have to see if this pullback is a warm up for a difficult late summer season, or will the bulls return once vacation season is over?
Have a great weekend everyone.
