Stock Prices
Stocks were up slightly today. The bond market went sideways again today well within its trough.
The Dollar gained again today against the Euro, ending below $1.48.
Gold was down a little again today also.
Oil bucked the trend and gained today, perhaps telling us the direction of the markets tomorrow (back to the good old boom days?), and gasoline put on a lot so you can look forward to higher gas prices.
In the news today….
Consumer Confidence – fell (unexpectedly) and this gave the stock market the jitters. Lower consumer confidence usually means lower consumer spending, and as we are heading for the holiday season, this isn’t great news for the retail sector. Also, it would mean less GDP growth.
Home Prices – rose 1% in August. This is the third month in a row. House prices are still 11% below their value a year ago. While this three month trend normally would be very significant, and present a real trend not to be ignored; we know that there is a tidal wave of foreclosures about to hit the market which will peak over the next 10 months.
Tonight’s Dinner Conversation — Continued……
Have the stock markets peaked? Take a look at this Standard and Poor’s Price Earning Ratio chart, and tell yourself what you think about the valuations of stocks today. The price earnings ratios is the price of all the S&P stocks divided by the earnings of all the S&P stocks. This gives a good average, and it sure looks high to me.
Stock Prices
Interesting stuff!!!!!
Here are the last numbers for today:
Dow Jones 30 Industrial – 9882 (up 14 points)
10 Year Treasury Bond – 3.46% (down 0.09%)
Euro – $1.4795
Gold – $1036 (down $6)
Oil – $79.47 (up $0.79)
Gasoline – $2.07 (up $0.04)
