Friends
Well that was a mess. Stocks continued to tumble after yesterday’s disappointing ISM manufacturing number, as concerns about an economic slowdown/recession once again rear their ugly head. Today’s ADP private payroll employment number came in shy of expectations, which does cast some doubt on Friday’s non-farm payroll number. It is remarkable how quickly the negative sentiment clouds descend on the markets. There was a whole lot of “the sky is falling” on business television today- from some of the same people that were bullish as recent as Monday. Oh well.
As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 494 points to finish the day at 26,078. The S&P 500 was down 52 points to close at 2,887. Gold was up $15 to trade at $1,504 per ounce, while oil was down $1.04 to trade at $52.58 per barrel WTI.
The way we are starting the 4th quarter is giving me a disturbing case of déjà vu. Slumping economic data is leading into an earnings season. We are going to find out soon enough if stocks are priced correctly. Stay tuned.
Have a nice evening everyone.
