Friends
Stocks sold off a bit today, maybe in sympathy with the anniversary of the October 19,1987 crash. If you are old enough you might remember that one. I was in my 3rd year in the business at Merrill Lynch back then when stocks fell almost 23% in one day. People forget that stocks had fallen nearly 5% on the Friday before and had already dropped more than 17% from the August 1987 highs. But, the 87 crash as it came to be known, certainly shaped my understanding of markets for the next 33 years. Believe me when I tell you it was scary. I still have the newspaper from the next morning in my desk in the office. But, what I learned and have continued to learn ever since, is that these dramatic moves are always temporary – scary yes, but always temporary.
As for today, it appears the “stimulus deal” talks are becoming tiresome to market participants and the belief that a deal is imminent seems to be waning. Of course, we are just 2 weeks away from the election and the stress of the unknown also seems to be wearing on investors.
As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 410 points to finish the day at 28,195. The S&P 500 was down 56 points to close at 3,426. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 192 points to close at 11,478. Gold was down $1 to trade at $1,904 per ounce, while oil was down $.32 to trade at $40.56 per barrel WTI.
Remember, while all the political theater is going on it will be a big week for earnings. We’ll here from Procter & Gamble, Lockheed Martin, Abbott Labs, Verizon, AT&T, Coca-Cola, Intel, Kimberly-Clark, Dow Chemical, Netflix and Tesla. Stay tuned, it should be a busy week.
Have a nice evening everyone.
