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Category: Dr. Duke's Blog
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The so-called Beige Book, the minutes from the last FOMC meeting, were issued this afternoon, and it seemed as though that helped the market for a few minutes, but it didn't last. SPX closed down $17 at $2080, just above the 200 dma. RUT lost $13 to close at $1203. Volatility rose with the VIX closing up about a point and a half at 15.3%. SPX opened and sliced down through the 200 dma this morning, hitting its low for the day at $2071. SPX hit its high for the day a few minutes after the Fed minutes were released, but then SPX weakened and closed lower.

Trading volume spiked upward today with 2.2 billion shares of the S&P 500 trading. Volume on the NYSE rose 22% and trading on NASDAQ rose 21%. So we had a weak market day on increased volume - not good.

Both the minutes and various quotes from FOMC members suggest there are strong camps on both sides of the decision to raise interest rates at the September meeting or to wait until December. In the meantime, we are stuck in this trading range. I am watching this market closely. It seems precariously balanced right now and I am unsure what might tip it one way or the other. When a market trades sideways this long, the resulting move higher or lower is usually very strong.