Friends
Despite Walmart delivering a good earnings report, perhaps validating that the consumer is alive and well, stocks spent the day in an aimless drift. We have often mentioned the dog days of summer and today’s action was a glaring example- almost no volatility and very little volume. Of course, after yesterday’s FOMC minutes, speculation on what the Fed will do is once again becoming the favorite pastime for traders.
As for stocks, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 23 points to finish the day at 18,597. The S&P 500 was up 4 points to close at 2,187. Gold was up $9 to trade at $1,357 per ounce, while oil was up $1.41 to trade at $48.20 per barrel WTI.
We’ll see how the week wraps up tomorrow, but there is really no reason to think that much will change until we get past Labor Day. Of course, Janet Yellen’s speech at Jackson Hole next week could be interesting.
Have a nice evening everyone.
