Friends
The only economic report of any importance today was the Housing Market Index number which was actually a little weaker than expected. That did not seem to deter traders and once again stocks were bought right at the outset, and held their gains for the entire session. In a rather broad based but controlled rally, led by energy stocks, the averages pushed higher with the Dow Jones Industrial Average once again closing above 14,000.
For the day, the Dow was up 54 points to finish the day at 14,035. The S&P 500 was up 11 points to close at 1530. Gold was down $5 to trade at $1604 per ounce, while oil was up another $.80 to trade at $96.66 per barrel WTI. I was going to say that this is the first up Monday of the year, but of course it’s not Monday is it? We now find ourselves less than 150 points away from the all- time high in the Dow posted back in 2007. Are we ready to take out the old highs and push to new highs this spring?
Tomorrow and Thursday we get the PPI and CPI reports, but other than that, short of some unknown catalyst, the bulls seem to have the news cycle on their side. You may have noticed that I have not mentioned the coming “sequester”. It sure doesn’t seem like anyone on the trading floor is paying it much mind. At least not yet.
Have a nice evening everyone.
