Friends

It was another difficult day for stocks with the Nasdaq leading the way lower. Chip makers were especially hard hit after negative tariff news with Nvidia, AMD, Micron and ASML all down sharply. This morning’s retail sales numbers were not as bad as expected which almost might have been bad news for the bulls. Chair Powell indicated today that the Fed inflation concerns does put them between a rock and a hard place if the labor markets weaken and economic activity lessens. At some point the Fed is probably going to have to pick their poison. It will be interesting to see if the markets force their hand.

As for today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 699 points to finish the day at 39,669. The S&P 500 was down 120 points to close at 5,275. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 516 points to close at 16,307. Gold was up $114.20 to trade at $3,354 per ounce, while oil was up $1.41 to trade at $62.74 per barrel WTI.

A reminder that tomorrow will be the final trading day of the week as the markets are closed for Good Friday. Despite last week’s rally, the bears continue to hold the high ground at the moment. Unfortunately, the path of least resistance appears to be down for now. But that all can change quickly. In the meantime, we will simply stay the course, stay calm, and look for any long term opportunities.

Have a nice evening everyone.

Jim