Friends
The volatility continues in the stock market as today we saw swings from positive to negative in the morning only to have the bulls step in and do some buying and send the market averages higher in the afternoon. Exciting news from pharmaceutical company Merck announcing an anti-viral drug that could act as a therapeutic for Covid-19 was a welcome distraction this morning from the political wrangling we have been subject to over the past days. Debt Ceiling, infrastructure, reconciliation and higher taxes have been bombarding market participants this week. Will something get done with regards to a bill? Stay tuned.
As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 482 points to finish the day at 34,326. The S&P 500 was up 49 points to close at 4,357. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 118 points to close at 14,566. Gold was up $1 to trade at $1,758 per ounce, while oil was up $.62 to trade at $75.65 per barrel WTI.
The bears were growling after the close yesterday and the difficult manner in which the quarter ended for stocks, but just when the negativity reached the business media stations in full force, stocks decide to go the other direction. We’ll have a few earnings reports next week before things swing into full action over the next few weeks, but we’ll also get a look at the employment picture with the ADP number on Wednesday and the non-farm payroll number on Friday. We limped into the end of the 3rd quarter but at least we had a nice start to the 4th quarter. Let’s see if it means anything come Monday.
Have a great weekend everyone.
