Friends

In the end it was a very good week for stocks. Decent inflation data and a strong beginning to corporate earnings season helped stoke a little bullish sentiment after weeks of less than stellar action for the market averages.

By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 334 points to finish the day at 43,487. The S&P 500 was up 59 points to close at 5,996. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 291 points to close at 19,630. Gold was down $11 to trade at $2,739 per ounce, while oil was down $.64 to trade at $78.04 per barrel WTI.

Earnings season will start kicking in next week as we hear from 3M, United Airlines, Netflix, Abbott Labs, Halliburton, Procter & Gamble, General Electric, American Express, and Verizon just to name a few. The following weeks will bring many more big names. Stay tuned, it should be an interesting few weeks ahead.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Jim