Friends
Well, yes Virginia, stocks can actually go down. After what seemingly has been an uninterrupted advance, stocks suffered losses today, on this first day of December trading, despite (or because of) good economic data. The ISM Manufacturing Index was quite a bit better than expected which sent bonds reeling and interest rates higher. Of course the big number this week will be the jobs report on Friday. That one may set the tone for the balance of the year.
As for today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 77 points to finish the day at 16,008. The S&P 500 was down 4 points to close at 1800. Gold was hammered with the precious metal down $29 to trade at $1221 per ounce. Oil was up $1.10 to trade at $93.82 per barrel WTI. A last minute move kept the Dow above 16,000 and the S&P above 1800, but just barely.
With 20 trading days left in the year, is the path of least resistance to the upside, topping off a great year for stocks, or are we in line for some mean reversion with stocks giving back some of this year’s gains? Let’s see how the first week of December shapes up. Today was not a great start, but it is only one day. I wouldn’t mind a little pullback right here and then a nice Santa Claus rally, though. Time will tell.
Have a nice evening everyone.
