Today turned out to be another less volatile day in the stock market indices. The Dow ended 30 points lower, while the Nasdaq closed higher by almost 13, and the S&P edged higher by 1.57. There was a lot of news about the credit markets running through the newswires, and the market responded to some of them, though all within a small trading range.
Technology stocks were strong today, led by a couple of large cap techs
. Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) closed higher by 4.38% after an analyst at UBS said sales of IPhones are ahead of target. EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) closed the day higher by 3.43% after its subsidiary VMware Inc (NYSE: VMW) shot higher by 15.11%.
Energy stocks were the weakest sector today as crude oil and gasoline prices fell sharply for the second straight day. ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) fell 2.03% and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) fell 1.6% on the day. Energy stocks have been under pressure the last two days as fears over Hurricane Dean have all but gone away since the storm moved far away from the U.S. shores.
There was a lot of chatter all across wall street today about the credit crisis and the state of the economy. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged investors to be patient and said "we are going to work through this problem just fine." Also, Senate Banking Committee Chair Chris Dodd commented after meeting with Paulson and FOMC chair Ben Bernanke, saying that he urged Bernanke to use all the tools available to him to help stop the spreading credit crisis. Dodd said he urged policymakers to do everything they could, but stopped short of asking specifically for a rate cut. In response to Dodd's comments, there has been a lot of commentary among economists of whether the elected leaders are getting their nose too much into the Federal Reserve's business. Economists believe that too much political pressure on the Fed is a very negative development.
Jeffrey Lacker, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President, was also out with his thoughts on the credit markets. Lacker said "Financial market volatility, in and of itself, doesn't require a change in the target federal funds rate." He also said his optimism for a rebound in the housing market has decreased of late because of the credit crunch, saying that the drag from housing on the economy will continue for some time.
The markets will likely continue to be moved in the next few weeks by every little bit of commentary out about the current credit crisis. This market is listening very closely to all those of any importance at all who make their opinions known.
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