Friends
Stocks drifted aimlessly today despite stronger than expected economic data including a surprising personal income and spending number. It seems traders were content to sit on their hands before tomorrow morning’s jobs report. Earnings reports and future guidance by company managements continue to be mixed, not giving the bulls or the bears much ammunition to act on.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 21 points to finish the day at 16,558. The S&P 500 was down a fraction to close at 1883. Gold was down $10 to trade at $1285 per ounce, while oil was down $.32 to trade at $99.42 per barrel WTI.
Well, here we go with another jobs number tomorrow. If it’s a good number (well over 200,000 new jobs) do stocks rally, or will it be a case of sell the good news? If it’s a bad number, will it be another case of bad news being good news (the Fed remains accommodative) or will traders frown on that old way of thinking? Consensus estimates are for about 215,000 new jobs having been created in April. Will expectations play into how the stock market reacts (usually does)? Stay tuned. We’ll fill you in tomorrow afternoon.
Have a nice evening everyone.
