Courtesy of John Nyaradi.
Today was a slow day on Wall Street as major index ETFs moved less than half a percent each
Today was a slow day on Wall Street as the S&P 500 gained .11%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost -.09%, the NASDAQ Composite added .40%, and the Russell 2000 Index gained .40%. Major index ETFs didn’t do much either as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:SPY) gained .16%, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSEARCA:DIA) lost .05%, the PowerShares QQQ Trust Series 1 ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ) gained .31%, and the iShares Russell 2000 Index ETF (NYSEARCA:IWM) gained .56%.
Despite continued tensions in Europe and Facebook’s IPO filing, today was a slow day all around. Today’s economic reports were certainly nothing to write home about and although initial jobless claims were down, which is a good sign, productivity was also down, which is a bad sign.
Major healthcare companies including Merck (NYSE:MRK) and AstraZenica (NYSE:AZN) reported positive earnings, however AstraZenica announced a 7,300 job cut, so that is not so good news either. Healthcare ETFs declined anyways despite improved earnings from major healthcare companies.
One would expect a market rally whenever the Fed acts, however Dr. Bernanke’s testimony to the House Budget Committee today didn’t ruffle any feathers. In his testimony, the Chairman encouraged Congress to compromise on a deficit reduction plan, as the nations public debt poses a very large threat to our economic recovery. Perhaps when Congress does pass a deficit reduction plan, the dollar and dollar ETFs will stage a comeback. Gold and silver however, did have a good day (go figure), as investors are still looking for the inflation hedge.
Europe, of course still remains in the background with its problem child Greece; Greece and private bond holders have yet to reach an agreement, and Chancellor Merkel today told China that Europe is making progress…can someone please define progress?
Bottom Line: Slow day for the markets and index ETFs today as investors wait in anticipation for a monster day tomorrow which includes the non farm payroll, unemployment, average hourly earnings, ISM, and factory orders reports. Greece also could have a deal (solution?) tomorrow, so sit tight.
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