Friends
Despite more political theater (that never ends) and the Fed minutes that indicate that the FOMC is ready to start reducing the balance sheet (sell bonds) next month, stocks still held their ground. The White House turmoil did take the winds out of the sails of a small rally midday, but not enough to send the averages into negative territory.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 25 points to finish the day at 22,024. The S&P 500 was up 3 points to close at 2,468. Gold was up $7 to trade at $1,287 per ounce, while oil was down $.74 to trade at $46.81 per barrel WTI.
So far the retailers that have reported this week, Home Depot, TJX and Target have all beaten expectations. Sure, those expectations had been lowered, but a beat is a beat. We get Wal-Mart tomorrow, so we’ll see if they can continue the trend. I am going to avoid political commentary (as we usually do) because you obviously get enough of that 24/7. The markets seem to be basically ignoring it all for now.
Have a nice evening everyone.
