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Why Does It Feel Like Friday? - Money Matters for 9/28/05 Don Bravo | 9/28/05
Maybe it's the change in the weather or the anticipation of the World Series, but this week in the financial markets seemed to be nearing a conclusion today when I glanced at a calendar and realized that it was only Wednesday.
The most likely reason that I thought this was a Friday was the compelling nature of the trading today, which was all over the map. While the Dow and NYSE were higher at the close, the Nasdaq was lower. Gold was way up, oil was down, then up, and even though volume was moderate, there were more people selling stocks than buying them.
The one thing everyone agree on was that gold was a bargain today. After falling for a week, the metal gained some luster, finishing nearly seven dollars to the good and poised near historic highs. With everything and everyone disjointed, the yellow metal provided a safe haven for scared money.
Techs mostly took it on the chin today, even though the loss in the average was negligible. This might be due to some repositioning by the mutual funds as the end of the quarter nears, but the feeling is palpable that something is about to change dramatically, and not just the wind.
With the aforementioned end of the third quarter just two days ahead, this kind of topsy-turvy commotion could continue right through the end of the week. Worries about the effects of the hurricanes on stocks and the continuing story on inverting the yield curve in bonds has traders on edge and while the ranges for the indices have been tight, there's a move afoot and it's likely not to be very good.
With October on the horizon, seasoned veterans recall the tumult of falls past and having the jitters as we head in is not a particularly pleasant omen.
THE NUMBERS:
Dow Jones: +16.88; 10,473.09 close
NYSE Advancers: 1681
Nasdaq Advancers: 1248
NYSE New Highs: 159
Nasdaq New Highs: 92
Gold: +6.90; 473.10 close
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