Friends
It was a very choppy day for stocks. Along with earnings season it appears we have entered silly season, as groups of investors have decided to identify stocks with a large short position and aggressively buy the shares driving the price higher. The shorts then are squeezed and are often forced to cover (buy the shares that they had sold short) thus driving the price even higher. This silliness is illustrated over the past week in the shares of GameStop, a video game retailer which was heavily shorted. The shares traded at less than $20 just weeks ago and though the company itself has struggled mightily, the shares have skyrocketed, trading at more than $150 per share today. But, danger does linger, for by the close GameStop shares had been cut in half and finished the day at $76 per share. As I said, pure silliness.
As for the market itself, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 36 points to finish the day at 30,960 after being down well over 300 points earlier in the day. The S&P 500 was up 13 points to close at 3,855. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 92 points to close at 13,635. Gold was down $1 to trade at $1,854 per ounce, while oil was up $.52 to trade at $52.79 per barrel WTI.
It’s a big week for earnings. About a quarter of the S&P 500 report this week. Stay tuned, we’ll let you know how the week plays out.
Have a nice evening everyone.
