Friends

The situation in Iran is certainly the main driver of market direction at the moment, but while all that is happening, we still continue with business as usual with regards to the economy. Today’s retail sales report showed a decline for May, but some of that was because of car sales being ramped up in April in anticipation of tariffs being imposed. Core retail sales did ok. Nevertheless, the Fed has a lot on their plate for this week’s meeting. We’ll see what the Fed Chair has to say about it all tomorrow.

As for today, the global tensions sent stocks lower as the trading session wore on. By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 299 points to finish the day at 42,215. The S&P 500 was down 50 points to close at 5,982. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 180 points to close at 19,521. Gold was down $14 to trade at $3,403 per ounce, while oil was up $2.91 to trade at $74.68 per barrel WTI.

As mentioned, we will get the Fed decision on monetary policy tomorrow followed by the Fed Chair’s press conference. Also, a reminder that the markets are closed on Thursday for the Juneteenth holiday. They will be back open on Friday. Let’s see what the Fed has to say tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Have a nice evening everyone.