Friends
Market participants appear to be on pins and needles as they await the outcome of this week’s Fed meeting and the plethora of data on the economy and corporate earnings. We mentioned the big-name companies that are reporting this week, Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft etc. but we also are going to get a rate hike from the Fed and our first look at 2nd quarter GDP. The White House is already doing damage control in the event that GDP shows a second quarter of negative growth. You see, though not the official definition, it is often said that a recession is two or more quarters of negative growth. The National Bureau of Economic Research is the official arbiter of the recession definition, and they opine that a recession is defined by a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, which lasts more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale and retail sales. Now you have the official definition of a recession and as I have pointed out for months, we are likely experiencing one as we speak, regardless of what government officials declare.
Anyway, traders were showing caution before the data fireworks and for the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 90 points to close at 31,990. The S&P 500 was up 5 points to finish at 3,966. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 51 points to close at 11,782. Gold was down $11 to trade at $1,716 per ounce, while oil was up $2.05 to trade at $ 96.75 per barrel WTI.
This might be the most important week of data that investors have dealt with for some time. Let’s buckle up and see how the week unfolds. Stay tuned.
Have a nice evening everyone.
