Friends
Stocks had leftover momentum from the Fed’s bond buying spree this morning. Then we added a little surprisingly strong retail sales number and a positive report on a common steroid being a helpful Covid-19 therapeutic, and that produced a tasty 1000 point Dow rally at the open. But, a report about schools closing in Beijing and Fed Chair Powell’s Senate testimony where he said that risks of long term economic damage are significant, sent stocks tumbling back towards the breakeven level. The bulls were able to regroup in the afternoon and deliver a positive day for stocks, but it was quite a ride along the way.
For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 526 points to close at 26,289. The S&P 500 was up 58 points to close at 3,124. Gold was up $7 to trade at $1,734 per ounce, while oil was up $.97 to trade at $38.09 per barrel WTI.
We’ve seen volatility pick up once again after the big down day we had last week. That has been a very common occurrence for the past dozen years. After very sharp moves (usually down) we tend to get some wild gyrations that then eventually settle back into more “normal” trading days. Let’s see if that plays out over the rest of the week, or will the wild volatility continue?
Have a nice evening everyone.
