Friends
Market participants had time over the weekend to consider Friday’s jobs report, the recent earnings season and the possibility/likelihood that the Fed begins to raise rates in December. It seems that they have some concerns. Stocks were down right from the opening and drifted lower as the trading session wore on. Was it the fact that after the recent lackluster earnings season, combined with the recent recovery in stocks, we find ourselves with a market that appears a little pricey once again. In the P/E equation the P went up nicely in October, but the E – not so much. Perhaps market participants just can’t stomach the possibility that the Fed is about to take the punch bowl away. Remember, when QE was ended in October 2014 the Fed in essence stopped pouring punch into the bowl. Now it is becoming more apparent that the Fed is likely to take the punch bowl away altogether. Is it possible that traders still can’t deal with that?
As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 179 points to finish the day at 17,730. The S&P 500 was down 20 points to close at 2078. Gold was up $3 to trade at $1091 per ounce, while oil was down $.30 to trade at $43.99 per barrel WTI.
We are now mostly past earnings season and won’t get another jobs report for weeks, so it will be interesting to see what traders occupy themselves with as we move into the end of the year. I’m sure something will develop that will get everyone’s attention.
Have a nice evening everyone.
