Friends
Poor earnings reports from several retailers weighed on stocks today, as the market averages spent the day decisively in negative territory. Of course, the winter weather was cited as the main reason behind all the disappointing results, but perhaps market participants are suspecting that there might be a little more to the story than pent up consumer demand. Perhaps demand itself is dwindling. Many retailers are indicating that things are improving a bit, but investors will be keeping a close eye on consumer demand over the summer.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 137 points to finish the day at 16,374. The S&P 500 was down 12 points to close at 1872. Gold was up $1 to trade at $1294 per ounce, while oil was down $.17 to trade at $102.44 per barrel WTI.
We get the FOMC minutes tomorrow and Fed Chair Janet Yellen delivers the commencement addresses to NYU at Yankee Stadium. We’ll be watching to see if the bears can build some momentum or will their charge run out of steam as it did last week? Stay tuned.
Have a nice evening everyone.
