Friends
Stocks were having another nice day until word came that the President was going to make some comments about China in a press conference. Worries are that tensions are heightening once again, and deals that were made might be discarded overtook stocks and the day’s gains were quickly turned into losses. After the recent rise in stocks prices, market participants might have needed a reason to sell a few things anyway, so the late headline wasn’t that unwelcome.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 147 points to finish the day at 25,400. The S&P 500 was down 6 points to close at 3,029. Gold was up $4 to trade at $1,731 per ounce, while oil was up $.60 to trade at $33.41 per barrel WTI.
This was a holiday shortened week, and despite today’s late selloff, it has been a pretty good one for the bulls so far. We have seen some beaten down stocks attract some buying while some of the recent favorites have seen a little profit taking. That rotation is not a bad thing and may pave the way for a more broadening out of the advance. Despite a handful of stocks supporting the market averages, many names are still far from the highs of early in the year. Let’s see how the week finishes out tomorrow.
Have a nice evening everyone.
Jim
