Friends
Stocks managed to post gains today despite a very quiet day of trading with low volatility. The last look at 4th quarter 2016 GDP showed that the quarter was a little better than had been previously reported, but as we mentioned yesterday, that is old news at this point. On the political front… you know what, I’ll just stay away from that craziness for now. In the meantime, as we finish up the month and the quarter tomorrow, the bulls seem a bit more in control than they did for most of March.
As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 69 points to finish the day at 20,728. The S&P 500 was up 6 points to close at 2,368. Gold was down $11 to trade at $1,242 per ounce, while oil was up $.79 to trade at $50.30 per barrel WTI.
As mentioned, the quarter ends tomorrow and we move into the 2nd quarter of 2017 on Monday. Time does really fly. Trying to handicap the next quarter is next to impossible given the headline news (mostly political) that we have to deal with on a seemingly daily basis. What we know going forward is that the Fed wants to raise rates a couple of more times this year, and that the White House would like to cut taxes and get an infrastructure bill passed. Whether any or all of that will happen is the question. Stay tuned.
Have a nice evening everyone.
