Friends
Despite or because of a very nice new home sales number, stocks had a difficult time today. Earnings overnight were mixed, with Apple, Ford and Boeing actually doing better than expected, and Caterpillar laying an egg, but stocks began to fall after the new home sales number came out. You know why, right? Yep, good news was bad news as it sent interest rates rising and bonds selling off. This led to a weakness in stocks (although I am not sure why) that persisted throughout the trading session.
For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 25 points to close at 15,542. The S&P 500 was down 6 points to finish the day at 1685. Gold was down $14 to trade at $1320 per ounce, while oil was down $2.08 to trade at $105.15 per barrel WTI. So far this week, S&P 1700 has served as a barrier for the bulls. We wondered last week if that might be the case.
We will get the weekly jobless claims number tomorrow, along with more earnings reports (Facebook announces after the close today). So far this week market action has been somewhat typical for the summertime. Trading has been very light and volatility has been minimal. Let’s see how the rest of the week goes.
Have a nice evening everyone.
