Friends
With today being quadruple witching, where we get the expiration of options and futures, volume was a little heavier, but trading seemed directionless as stocks loitered around the even level all day. By the end, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 20 points to finish the week at 13,232. The S&P was up a little more than a point to close at 1404 for the week. Gold was basically flat for the day closing at $1658 per ounce and oil was up $2.12 to close near $107.23 per barrel WTI.
On the economic front the Consumer Price Index was up .4% which was in line as the core number (minus food and energy) was actually a little better than expected. The University of Michigan’s March Confidence Survey was a bit lower than last month which was a little disappointing, but not totally unexpected with rising energy costs on a lot of people’s minds.
All in all, it was a good week for stocks, and a not so good week for bonds and gold. This is the first chink in the armor for bonds in quite a while. If the economy continues to improve, the great 30 year bull market in bonds may be coming to a close. If we roll over this summer like we have the past several years, then bonds may have a little longer to shine. As for stocks, the S&P was up 2% for the week and we have had a very nice start to the year. We have seen this movie before. Will we finally break the trend and continue to climb higher due to an improving economy, or are we destined to repeat the pattern of the last few years where early strength fizzled into the heat of the summer?
We’ll see how the 1st quarter finishes in the next few weeks. Then we have earnings to deal with, which may give us a tell as to where we are headed as the year progresses.
We will keep you informed.
Have a great weekend everyone.
