Friends,
With the stock market practically comatose today, let’s talk about bonds and the dollar for a minute. The dollar has been showing remarkable strength over the past week rallying against the Japanese Yen and Aussie Dollar. This has contributed to a fall in commodity prices and also a retreat in the fixed income markets. For instance the yield on the 10 year Treasury note has risen from 1.60 to 1.90 in just a few trading sessions. That may not sound like a lot, but is a huge percentage move. As for stocks, a last minute surge put the Dow in positive territory for the day, as the index traded up 35 points to close at 15,118 and the S&P up 7 to close at 1634. Gold was down $26 to trade at 1,443 per ounce and oil was down $.50 to trade at $95.89 per barrel WTI.
The last couple of days saw a bit of a rest in equity prices, which in the long term could prove to be helpful as the bulls should prefer a more gradual move up. The bears are still waiting for that magic piece of news that would send share prices tumbling. Seems like a scene out for Waiting for Godot.
Have a nice weekend everyone.
