When it appears as though the governors of the Federal Reserve believe that the end of the rate increases is near, that's very good news for investors. A lack of ambiguity from the Federal Reserve is always a little bit of a shocker.
ultimately extremely good news for the health of the market.
One of the most important signs of a bull market is when the bull market manages very, very bad news like we've had today. So in that sense, you've got a very encouraging performance today.
The good news was good enough to more than offset the worries about wages and Federal Reserve policy. There is an emotional component to the market today. Some speculative spirits are starting to stir.
To some extent everybody is a little exhausted. In the absence of big news we'll see a quieter day. It feels like we were hit by a tidal wave over the past three or four days and today is like the aftermath, picking up the pieces.
The stock market rally today is because we drove the market down to levels that were on the cheap side and when you get news like the leading indicators saying things are going to be good for the economy and profits, that attracts buyers.
It's bad news for all of the things that have been doing well.
It's good news that the durable goods orders were stronger than expected, but those are August numbers and probably don't carry that much weight,
That's pretty good news because it means investors did not become defensive. They remain optimistic,
The ISM report was good news in two ways. There's a big difference between contraction and a slowdown; and the number still showed expansion.
The consumer price index rise was very modest. It suggests, as I think many of us have been forecasting, that inflation is in the process of moderating. The good news is investors can feel somewhat more comfortable about monetary policy.
The inflationary news today was extraordinary. Even though we are seeing upward pressure on wages, it's not overwhelming. We are seeing some upward pressure on prices, but it remains very benign.
The Goldman Sachs news seemed to re-energize the bull market.