Friends
Taper talk is back. That didn’t take long did it? I’m only half kidding, but with the better than expected ISM Manufacturing Index reading (the best in more than 2 years), the expectations that the Fed might be able to revisit the subject of tapering sooner than later did cross the minds of market participants. Unfortunately the news of a shooting at LAX occupied the airwaves. Traders seemed spooked at first but recovered to post modest gains on this first trading session of November.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 69 to finish the day at 15,615. The S&P 500 was up 5 points to close at 1761. Gold was down $8 to trade at $1315 per ounce, while oil was down $1.69 to trade at $94.69 per barrel WTI.
It will be interesting to see if we get enough positive economic data points to encourage the belief that the Fed, may indeed, begin to change directions and decrease its asset purchase strategy. Maybe even more interesting will be what stocks do if the taper talk is back on at some point soon. There are two months left in the year. Something tells me that they won’t be boring. We’ll keep you informed.
Have a great weekend everyone.
