This market is like an old fashioned see saw, back and forth between the bulls and the bears. Today it was the bulls' turn as SPX gained $15, closing at $1888. RUT didn't gain as much, closing up $6 at $1104. Volatility declined with the VIX closing down one point at 11.9%. That was the lowest close for the VIX all year. Trading volume fell off with 1.7 billion shares of the S&P 500 stocks trading. Trading on the NYSE declined 9% and trading volume dropped 4% on NASDAQ. Perhaps the exodus for the long weekend is already beginning.
The minutes from the last FOMC meeting were released today and investors were reassured that the discussions about raising interest rates were couched in terms of later in 2015. But that is what the Fed has been telling us all along, so there wasn't anything new in the minutes. It seems like Wall Street starts fretting about the Fed even more now that they have been much more transparent. We get the weekly unemployment numbers tomorrow, but those aren't likely to be market-moving.
So, will the markets sell off a bit tomorrow? It is the bears' turn...
