Friends
Hopes and dreams of a spirited Santa Clause rally fell to earth today as the bulls could never really get anything going that even resembled enthusiasm for stocks. Retail sales jumped nearly 8% for the holiday season but a lot of that increase was reflected in higher prices meaning after inflation there wasn’t much change. Home prices continue to decline as higher mortgage rates have definitely put a wet blanket on buyer enthusiasm. And the biggest story of the week continues to be Southwest Airline passengers being stranded all over the country.
As for stocks, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 37 points to finish the day at 33,241. The S&P 500 was down 15 points to close at 3,829. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 144 points to close at 10,353. Gold was up $17 to trade at $1,822 per ounce, while oil was up $.10 to trade at $79.66 per barrel WTI.
It appears that tax loss selling will be active up until the last minute as investors look to offset gains that they might have in other assets and/or to store up losses to offset future gains. As has been the case all year, the bulls have their work cut out for them if they want to try to end the year on a positive note. Fingers crossed.
Have a nice evening everyone.
