Friends
Well it is fitting that the last Monday of the Summer was negative for stocks. Nearly every Monday (14 out of the last 15) this summer has had a selling bias and after last week’s fireworks, it is not surprising that we would give a little back early this week. But, if this is all that the bears can muster after recent gains, then the bulls continue to have the upper hand.
For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 40 points to close at 13,553. The S&P 500 was down more than 4 points to finish the day at 1461. Gold was down $13 to trade at $1759 per ounce, while oil was down $2.91 to trade at $96.08 as it was the subject of a rumor that the U.S. Government may release oil from the Strategic Reserve (the rumor was denied by the White House).
It will be interesting to see how the markets react this week after the Fed’s major move last week. The next focus point will be a new earnings season set to begin in a couple of weeks. We have seen companies lowering expectations recently and analyst lowering their estimates. Can company earnings justify the recent rise in stock prices, or with the Fed’s recent action does it even matter? Stay tuned.
Have a nice evening everyone.
