Friends
It was a wild ride for market participants on this last trading day of May. Headlines were coming at us at breakneck speed. On the economic front, the personal consumption expenditures price index showed inflation increasing by only 0.1% for the month and an annualized rate of 2.1%. Consumer spending slumped while the savings rate surged to 4.9%, the highest in almost a year. Other headlines came from JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon who warned that the bond market could/would crack at some point. That combined with reports that China was not living up to their part of the tariff deal helped send stocks lower. But as the President spoke from the Oval Office stocks did recover some to close mixed for the day.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 54 points to finish the day at 42,270. The S&P 500 was down a fraction to close at 5,911. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 62 points to close at 19,113. Gold was down $25 to trade at $3,291 per ounce, while oil was down $.09 to trade at $60.85 per barrel WTI.
As mentioned yesterday, it was a good month for the market averages. Traders are being whipsawed by headlines, but for investors like us, it’s been best just to ignore them and stay on the course we have chosen. And so far, so good.
Have a great weekend everyone!
