This week was a decent one for the US capital markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average led the way, posting a weekly gain of +1.4%. The S&P 500 was up +0.6% and the Russell 2000 was up +0.4%. The Nasdaq was the laggard this week, posting a weekly loss of -0.3%.
Value stocks outperformed growth stocks for the week, and mid-cap stocks edged out small and large cap stocks. In terms of sector performance, Telecom posted a solid weekly gain of +3.7%, as well as consumer staples at +3.2%, while Energy stocks struggled and posted a weekly loss of -3.6%.
Gold had a rough week, posting a loss of -2.1% and ending at $1,184 per ounce. Silver struggled mightily as well, posting a weekly loss of -3.3% and closing at $14.80 per ounce. Oil was also down for the week, posting a loss of -2.6% and closing at $65.89 per barrel (West Texas Intermediate).
Following up on last week’s Tesla drama, the stock suffered this week with continued questioning of Musk’s intention, method and truthfulness of the “going private, funding secured” tweet, with the stock retreating 17%. The SEC is looking into the issue and shareholders are already brining lawsuits against the company.
In political news, trade war fears eased slightly after last week’s flare up between the US and China, as the countries agreed to start discussions about the trade dispute.
Cryptocurrencies has a mixed week. Bitcoin posted a weekly gain of +1.3%, currently at $6,360. Steem struggled and was down -8.4% for the week, currently at $0.87. EOS was fairly flat, posting a weekly loss of -1.4% currently at $5.03.
Overall, the US capital markets are healthy and I remain fully invested.
Brian