Friends
On the economic front we received some positive housing data as the Case-Shiller HPI showed accelerating home prices and the housing starts data was better than expected also. The negative data point today was the Consumer Confidence Number which was a lower reading than expected. None of this seemed to matter to what seems to be an endless march by the bulls, as stocks posted very modest gains once again. The once mortally wounded NASDAQ still hasn’t gotten back to pre-2000 crash highs but today the average closed above 4000 for the first time since September of 2000.
As for the other averages, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up less than a point to close at 16,072. The S&P 500 was up less than a point also to finish the day at 1802. Gold was up $2 to trade at $1243, while oil was down $.25 to trade at $93.84 per barrel WTI.
As we have noted recently, the positive sign for the bulls has been the consistent rotation of sectors from time to time, as today the winners were specifically in the tech sector. This seems to keep traders interested in continuously looking for the next thing to move. Now the bears might point out that most everything has moved quite substantially by now and a “bubble” is forming, but the market can stay “illogical” a lot longer sometimes than bears can stay solvent. Let’s see how we do as the holiday week proceeds.
Have a nice evening everyone.
