[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] 1. Moving the Markets European and Asian markets were down and so were the US major indexes, at least in the early part of the session. Then the usual afternoon Lift-A-Thon pulled the major indexes up but we still closed slightly below the unchanged line. Well, Wall Street was hoping that the S&P 500 would push …
Energy Component Top Performer For S&P 500
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] 1. Moving the Markets The S&P 500 continued to push towards its all-time high of 2,130.82 today, as the index closed at 2,119.12. Surprising as it may seem, energy has been the main driver for the S&P 500 this year. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index energy sector is up 14.8% to date, which makes it …
Front-running Yellen’s Yodeling
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] 1. Moving the Markets Front-running Fed chief Yellen’s speech was the idea of the day on hopes that Friday’s bad jobs report would be great news for the markets. Forget the Dow today, it was all about the S&P 500 as it set a 2016 closing high in today’s trading, after Fed chair Janet Yellen hinted …
Markets Gain Despite OPEC Turmoil
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] 1. Moving the Markets OPEC and oil were the largest market movers today. Imagine my surprise when news came in during mid-day trading that OPEC was not able to seal a deal on capping oil production. The failure to reach a decision underscores the increasingly conflicted interests within the organization. Two members in particular, Saudi Arabia …
Is June Gloom Looming?
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] 1. Moving the Markets Stocks spent much of the day in the red as Wall Street reacted to sub-par economic data out of China. China’s official purchasing manager’s index for manufacturing was inline with forecasts at 50.1, but that is a dangerous place to be because any number below 50 indicates a contacting economy. The month of May …
May Marks 3rd Straight Positive Month
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] 1. Moving the Markets Although markets did little to impress in the first day of trading after the holiday weekend, the gains from last week were enough to maintain a positive month overall for May. This marks the third straight month of gains for the S&P 500 for a grand total of +1.8%. Today, we heard …