Friends
Wow, what a wild day of trading. Things began with a stronger than expected jobs report which sent long term interest rates higher. The paradigm has been rates higher, stocks (at least tech stocks) lower. But, market participants seemed a bit confused today. If rates are going up for the right reasons, a potential boom in the economy, then why are we selling stocks? Confusion reigned as stocks rose, a lot, then fell, a lot, then rose again and so on. By the close the bulls were in charge, but I’m not sure if they knew exactly what they were in charge of.
Anyway, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 572 points to finish the day at 31,496. The S&P 500 was up 73 points to close at 3,841. The beleaguered Nasdaq Composite Index was up 196 points to close at 12,920. Gold was down $4 to trade at $1,696 per ounce, while oil was up $2.37 to trade at $66.20 per barrel WTI.
We sure have seen volatility pick up over these last two weeks. The rise in longer term interest rates has been the main catalyst, but economic expectations continue to strengthen given the apparent success in getting vaccines in folks arms and certain State’s willingness to open up entirely for business. It would certainly appear than we are about to see an economic boom in the second half of 2021 and beyond. The question is just how the markets will deal with such prosperity. The booming economy should certainly be good for Main Street. Just how good it will be for Wall Street remains to be seen.
Have a great weekend everyone.
