Weekly Closing Numbers: Dow 28,000 Amazing

Market Direction: BULLISH alert issued 10/24/2019

What is the current stock market direction? 

Vote BULLISH (Up) or BEARISH (Down) in the upper right side bar, the current stock market direction weekly closing numbers. Leave a comment. Now for the news…

The economy



The S&P 500 (+0.9%), Dow Jones Industrial Average (+1.2%), and Nasdaq Composite (+0.8%) set new records this week, with the bulk of this week's gains coming on Friday after NEC Director Larry Kudlow said a Phase One trade agreement was close to being reached. The small-cap Russell 2000 (-0.2%) was left out of the rally.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro expressed similar views on trade. Other "people familiar with the talks," however, told news outlets that both sides are struggling to overcome issues on exiting tariffs, enforcement mechanisms, and agricultural purchases.

The market remained optimistic, yet somewhat cautious as money flowed into the defensive-oriented health care (+2.4%), real estate (+1.9%), and utilities (+1.5%) sectors. The outperformance of the market's biggest technology names like Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), and Alphabet (GOOG) seemed like a "safe" play, too.

Laggards included the S&P 500 energy (-1.3%), financials (-0.3%), and consumer discretionary (-0.2%) sectors. Cisco Systems (CSCO) fell sharply on disappointing quarterly guidance.

Separately, President Trump's speech at the Economic Club of New York and Fed Chair Powell's two-day congressional testimony were two high-profile events this week. Neither, however, provided the market information it didn't already know about trade negotiations, the economy, or monetary policy.

National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said the U.S. and China are close to striking a Phase One trade agreement, but that President Trump isn't ready just yet to sign off on the agreement. Apparently, close is enough for the futures market, which likes the tenor of the headline following multiple news reports earlier this week suggesting the negotiations have hit a stumbling block.

Currently, the S&P futures are up ten points and are trading 0.4% above fair value. The Nasdaq 100 futures are up 43 points and are trading 0.5% above fair value. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up 103 points and are trading 0.4% above fair value.

The market frankly never reacted all that strongly to the earlier reports suggesting a Phase One deal could possibly get derailed by differences of opinion over tariff rollback provisions, the amount and timing of agricultural purchases by China, and enforcement mechanisms to protect intellectual property. To wit, the S&P 500 is up 0.1% for the week entering today's session.

Sure, the earlier reports might have put a break on the breakout effort that started with the optimism about trade tension being defused with a Phase One deal, yet they certainly didn't trigger a breakdown of the rally effort.

In the market's mind, then, it never gave up on the idea that a deal could be close. If it had, there would have been a sea of red across the performance tables. On a related note, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, USTR Lighthizer, and Vice Premier He are reportedly partaking in a telephone call today to discuss trade matters.

U.S. Treasuries finished the week higher, which sent yields lower across the curve. The 2-yr yield declined five basis points to 1.61%, and the 10-yr yield declined ten basis points to 1.83%. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.4% to 97.99. WTI crude increased 0.9%, or $0.54, to $57.75/bbl.

$tockMarketDirection proprietary model is currently BULLISH. We strongly encourage you to monitor positions closely, exercise proper money management strategies and follow us at $tockMarketDirection for ALERTS we may issue advising a change in the current market direction. Stay tuned and follow us. If you have a testimonial or comment of how this website has helped you we would like to know, write us. Share with a friend.  

The market direction weekly closing numbers for the indexes this week compared to the initial BULLISH recommendation closing numbers:

Stock Market Closing Numbers
compared to Recommendation Numbers
	10/24/2019	11/15/2019	Difference
Dow Jones	26,805.50	28,004.89	1,199.39
Nasdaq	8,185.80	8,540.83	355.03
S&P 500	3,010.29	3,120.46	110.17

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