Friday, October 31, 2014

Economic Journal - Friday, 10/31/2014

(As of 7:05 am PST)

Stocks are off to a wild start Friday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P500 soaring into record territory after a surprise announcement from the Bank of Japan to increase its stimulus package. Buying began overnight in the Asian markets with the broad indexes up well over 1%. Japan’s Nikkei index skyrocketed over 4% in Friday’s session as investors cheered the BOJ’s new stimulus measures. Optimism carried over into European markets which are up almost 2% in the final hours of trading. US investors kept the risk on trade going just day’s after the Federal Reserve announced the ending of its stimulus program known as quantitative easing.  Positive US economic data added to the enthusiasm early. Gold and oil are both down with oil falling below $80 per barrel and gold hitting levels unseen since 2010. With money flowing to equities treasuries were sent lower causing interest rates to rise. The market has had a remarkable snapback in the last 2 weeks with gains on pace for 4% in this week alone. Don’t be surprised to see a pullback next week after this surprise rally.

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