Friends
Overnight, the geopolitical tensions were taken to a new level. Of course, by now you know about the military action that the U. S. took with regards to the Assad Regime in Syria, and stock futures acted as expected. But before the opening of trading this morning things had calmed down and futures were just slightly negative. Remember, we also had the jobs report this morning and the number of jobs created in March (98,000) was quite a bit less than expected. Weather may have been a factor, but nevertheless it was a disappointing number.
Given all that, you might have guessed that the stock market would have been a bit jittery. On the contrary, stocks drifted directionless for the entire trading session. Any little dips were bought and any little surge was sold. By the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 6 points to finish the day at 20,656. The S&P 500 was down 1 point to close at 2,355. Gold was up $3 to trade at $1,256 per ounce, while oil was up $.51 to trade at $52.21 per barrel WTI.
It is somewhat remarkable that markets have handled all these headlines with such apparent calmness. What will next week bring? Your guess is as good as mine. I think I’ll go watch The Masters and get ready for next week’s madness.
Have a great weekend everyone.
