Friends
It looked like the bears finally had the upper hand yesterday, as stocks had suffered another setback of some size as fear of global slowdown continued. Well, not so fast. Stocks staged a minor snapback rally in early trading, but once the Fed minutes were released this afternoon, share prices surged. What was in those minutes that caused such a stir? Simply put, the FOMC is inclined to keep the punch bowl around for a while, as the committee seems very concerned about the apparent global slowdown that is occurring. Traders have been fretting about the possibility of the Fed raising interest rates sooner than later, but the recent Fed minutes indicate that it won’t be anytime soon if present conditions continue.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 274 points to finish the day at 16,994. The S&P 500 was up 33 points to close at 1968. Gold was up $10 to trade at $1222 per ounce, while oil was down $1.16 to trade at $87.69 per barrel WTI.
It’s just been a crazy week for volatility. It sure seems like a market that easily forgets what happened the day before. Earnings season is upon us. Let’s see how it manifests itself in the coming weeks.
Have a nice evening everyone.
