Friends
It was another sloppy day for stocks as the major market averages spent most of the trading session in negative territory, but as like yesterday, not by much. A few of the high fliers like Amazon, Google and Facebook saw some selling pressure in the last hour of trading, but of course this is after days of reaching new highs. Basically, the week is simply off to an uninspired start. Perhaps traders are a bit nervous about the former FBI Director Comey’s testimony on Thursday. Of course, it could be much ado about nothing, but we will see.
For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 47 points to finish the day at 21,136. The S&P 500 was down 6 points to close at 2,429. Gold was up $12 to trade at $1,295 per ounce, while oil was up $.90 to trade at $48.30 per barrel WTI. Nat Gas was up $.066 to finish trading at $3.048.
For Fed watchers today’s JOLTS number showed an abundance of job openings which could dovetail well with the 4.3% unemployment level. What is shaping up as a problem is the lack of skilled labor to meet the demand. That may be a problem the Fed will consider as they gather for the FOMC meeting next week. In the meantime, stocks will be searching for direction and a catalyst. Stay tuned.
Have a nice evening everyone.
