Friends
We seemed to get everyone back to work today, except those in the frozen Midwestern part of the country, but the action didn’t really pick up much. Stocks had a first good half hour of trading but gave back nearly triple digit gains on the Dow after a somewhat weak ISM non-manufacturing number (the Factory Orders number released earlier in the morning was not too bad). The rest of the day volatility virtually disappeared and stocks drifted in a negative fashion for the rest of the session.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 44 points to finish the day at 16,425. The S&P 500 was down 4 points to close at 1826. Gold was down $1 to trade at $1237 per ounce, while oil was down $.26 to trade at $93.70 per barrel WTI. The S&P 500 begins the year with 3 down sessions in a row. No real damage, but the first 5 trading days of the year are known to set the tone for the entire year more often than not.
It will be a busy week for economic news as we get the Fed minutes on Wednesday along with the ADP private payroll number. Of course on Friday we get the non-farm payroll number. Over the next several weeks earnings season is in full force, and that will be our report card for companies and stock prices. We’ll let you know how the week progresses.
Have a nice evening everyone.
