Friends
I hope you have your seatbelt fastened tight because this week’s roller coaster ride continues. Today, the bulls had the upper hand as after a plethora of economic data before the opening bell, stocks surged to the upside once trading began. As the session wore on, stocks added to their gains in a deliberate manner. That data was mostly on the soft side, as the Empire State and Philly Fed reports showed factory weakness, retail sales were awful and the PPI showed little if any inflation on the wholesale level. You got it-bad news is good news. Do these data points take the steam out of any possibility of a September Fed rate hike? How about December?
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 177 points to finish the day at 18,212. The S&P 500 was up 21 points to close at 2147. Gold was down $8 to trade at $1,318 per ounce, while oil was up $.32 to trade at $43.90 per barrel WTI.
If the Fed is truly data dependent, as they claim they are, then today’s economic data will not help in their desire to tighten monetary policy. As for the markets, bonds continue to show some weakness, but that is relative, and stocks are trying to break out of the August doldrums, but can’t decide which way that they want to go. The last five trading sessions have leaned negative, but the bulls have had their moments too. Let’s see how the week concludes tomorrow.
Have a nice evening everyone.
