Friends
I mentioned yesterday that Google (Alphabet) was going to announce earnings after the close and that the risk was that the shares had just risen to new all-time highs. Well, combine a disappointing earnings release with a stock that was sitting at all-time highs and you get a brutal day for Alphabet shares. As I also mentioned, we get Apple’s earnings release today at about 3:30. Apple shares are far from all-time highs, but the shares are about 40% higher than they were near year end 2018, so another poor earnings report could produce similar results. Stay tuned, we’ll let you know tomorrow how Apple shares fared.
As for the markets overall, Alphabet did set a negative tone this morning along with concerns that the China trade deal might have hit a snag, but stocks showed resiliency and erased most of the early losses by the close. For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 38 points to finish the day at 26,592. The S&P 500 was up 2 points to close at 2,945. Gold was up $4 to trade at $1,286 per ounce, while oil was up $.40 to trade at $63.90 per barrel WTI.
The FOMC began its 2 day meeting today amidst a barrage from the White House to cut interest rates, and rumors that the Fed could be considering an “insurance ease” – a preemptive rate cut to ward off any slowing economic pressures. I’ll go with no rate hike and more language about being data dependent, if you wanted a prediction from me. We’ll get the FOMC statement and the Fed Chair’s comments tomorrow afternoon. We’ll let you know how all that turns out too. Stay tuned, there’s a lot on the plate.
Have a nice evening everyone.
