Friends

Market participants had a lot on their plate today. Bombing continues in Iran, we got a better-than-expected CPI number, Fed Chair Warsh promises that inflation will be a thing of the past, and the big banks had some earnings reports. With regards to banks, the reports were all mostly good but their share price reactions were mixed. Goldman, JP Morgan, and Bank of America moved higher while Citi and Wells Fargo shares fell. The inflation numbers were encouraging and put a damper on the narrative that the Fed will be raising interest rates soon. And the Fed Chair made it clear during his testimony on the Hill that the Fed is determined to make sure inflation no longer is a problem. We will see.

As for the market, averages were higher with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 9 points to finish the day at 52,508. The S&P 500 was up 28 points to close at 7,543. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 233 points to close at 26,107. Gold was up $52 to trade at $4,058 per ounce, while oil was up $1.59 to trade at $79.73 per barrel WTI.

While Goldman helped the Dow stay in the green, IBM saw its shares fall 25% after a weak earnings prerelease which put massive pressure on the Dow index. Both are good examples of how volatile this earnings season can be for individual stocks. And we are just getting started.

Have a nice evening everyone.

Jim