Daily Investment Interpretations

December 16, 2009

2009-12-16: The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 rose a little today, while the Dow fell a little. The NASDAQ Composite rose 11.05 points, (-0.5%) to end at 2,206.91, the Dow parted with 10.88 points (-0.1%) to close at 10,441.12, and the S&P 500 inched up 1.25 points (0.11%) to 1,109.18. Oil was unchanged at $72.70 a barrel, while gold rose $13 to $1,136. The VIX rose 0.95 to 20.54.  
    Today's lack of luster is attributed to FedSpeak: Fed makes stocks go flat. The Fed made the statement that we're "pretty well through the deterioration" in the labor markets, raising concerns that rising rates might occur rather sooner than later. The article quotes one floor trader saying that after Friday (an options expiration date), not much action is expected through the end of the year, and that most of this year's bad news is behind us (well yeah, most of this year is behind us). Next year? Who knows?
   Mark Hulbert writes, No contrast between best/worst forecasts.
   Stock market futures are flat-to-down slightly tonight.