Today there were modest gains for the overall markets and higher values for the fifth straight day. We have not seen a similar upside streak like this since late February. The DOW finished higher by 74, the S&P 500 managed a 5 point gain, and the NASDAQ climbed up another 24 points today. Breadth numbers were positive at a 17/12 upside ratio while the VIX fell back to 10.02.
For 2017, earnings projections for the S&P are expected to be up by 11% and for 2018 the number is almost 12%. We have seen the stock market move higher seemingly to justify those profit gains.
The DOW was led today by GS, BA and V. The NASDAQ witnessed new all-time highs in AMZN, ISRG and NVDA. PCLN gained 20 points to 1848 and GOOG reached a new high of 955 to help the upside party in this group.
Individual stocks were reacting to their numbers as INTU and TCS grew while retailers LOW, TIF and AAP sold off. Bond yields did nothing as they waited for the Fed minutes. The dollar was also idling today as crude oil fell to 51.30 a barrel. Gold gained a bit to end at $1,257 an ounce.
The overall bull market is now in its 97th straight month. This compares to the average length of 59 months for the 11 bull markets since 1949…and it is now the second longest bull market in history…trailing only the 1987-2000 period.
Donald M. Selkin
These are excerpts from Don Selkin’s Daily Market Notes, abbreviated and updated with permission from the author. Don Selkin is the Chief Market Strategist at Newbridge Securities Corporation, member FINRA/SIPC and provides the Fair Value analysis for CNBC each morning. The commentary provided in this Market Letter is intended to provide timely market analysis and should not be considered a research report. This Market Letter may contain, and is limited to: Discussions of broad based indices; Commentaries on economic, political or market conditions; Technical analyses concerning the demand and supply for a sector, index or industry based in trading volume and price; Statistical summaries of multiple companies’ financial data, including listings of current ratings; and, Recommendations regarding increasing or decreasing holdings in particular industries or securities. This Market Letter does not make a financial or investment recommendation or otherwise promotes a product or service of the firm. This Market Letter contains only news, facts, and commentary on information previously reported from a news source believed to be accurate and reliable by the author. These news sources include the following: Bloomberg Financial, Reuters, and the Associated Press.