Friends
Happy Sequester Day! Yes, I know the world is supposed to end because of $85 billion in budget cuts, but somehow I suspect we will survive those cuts. No, that is not a comment on stock market direction. A whole lot of other factors go into that one. I just simply expect that cutting $85 billion out of a budget of trillions is not going to bring the economy to its knees. I guess we will see.
As for the markets, the economic news, including the ISM Manufacturing Index and Consumer Sentiment, was very positive this morning. Stocks began the day by plunging 116 Dow points, but when the impressive ISM number hit at 9:00, traders stepped up to buy. But by the close, traders seemed exhausted by the week’s volatility.
In the end, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 35 points to close at 14,089. The S&P 500 was up 3 points to finish the day at 1518. Gold was down $3 to trade at $1574 per ounce, while oil was down $1.11 to trade at $90.93 per barrel WTI.
The first day of the month tends to be a good day for stocks, as have Fridays this year, but today was somewhat uninspiring. I know, we rallied off the lows and 14,000 on the Dow and 1500 on the S&P held for the week, but it just didn’t feel right today. Perhaps I’m just worn out from the volatility this week. Hey, after Monday’s clobbering, for stocks to end up positive for the week is very impressive. Let’s see what next week brings.
Have a great weekend everyone.
