Friends
Today marks the end of the first quarter of 2014. It looks like the S&P ends up slightly higher and the Dow slightly lower for the quarter. It was definitely a tug-of-war between the bulls and the bears. A positive perspective on the first quarter performance would be that after last year’s gains, stocks were able to back and fill and digest those gains. The bears might have a different point of view, instead declaring that the bulls have run out of gas.
Anyway, for the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 134 points to close at 16,457. The S&P 500 was up 14 to finish the day at 1872. Gold was down $9 to trade at $1284 per ounce, while oil was down $.17 to trade at $101.50 per barrel WTI.
As we enter the second quarter, the economic calendar is full (with the culmination being the non-farm payroll number on Friday) and earnings season is just around the corner. It didn’t look like much happened in the 1st quarter, but underneath it all, sector rotation occurred and froth came off some of the high flying growth stocks, and Ms. Yellen took the reins at the Fed. The second quarter should be interesting. Stay tuned.
Have a nice evening everyone.
