Friends

Stocks struggled to find any real direction today as the Iran situation continues to be a question as does the direction of monetary policy in the second half of the year and beyond. Big Tech had a dreadful day, and the much-hyped SpaceX has now mostly erased all of its gains from the first couple days of trading. After hitting a high of $225 last week the shares closed today’s trading under $155 per share. We thought the shares would be volatile and they sure have been. It’s not really a reflection on the long -term prospects of the company, it’s more the dynamics of a massive IPO.

As for the market averages, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 148 points to finish the day at 51,712. The S&P 500 was down 27 points to close at 7,472. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 351 points to close at 26,166. Gold was down $39 to trade at $4,206, while oil was down $1.41 to trade at $75.19 per barrel WTI.

Let’s see if the bulls can hold things together as we head towards the end of the quarter. Stay tuned.

Have a nice evening everyone.

Jim