Friends

Both oil prices and bond yields pushed higher again today. Stocks were able to limit the damage, but the headwinds continue to get stronger. On the other side of the ledger, the economy appears to be humming, and this upcoming earnings season looks to be another strong one for the bulls. The Fed appears inclined to continue to raise interest rates which will help fight inflation but also cause borrowing costs to rise (and the U.S. government is the biggest borrower).

As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 161 points to finish the day at 51,349. The S&P 500 was down 1 point to close at 7,704. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 3 points to close at 26,939. Gold was down $10 to trade at $4,307 per ounce, while oil was up $3.15 to trade at $95.31 per barrel WTI.

I admit, I’m a bit surprised that stocks have been so resilient in the face of these rising interest rates. The 10-year Treasury Note traded at 5.19% near the close of trading this afternoon. Let’s see how the week finishes out tomorrow.

Have a nice evening everyone.

Jim