Friday, April 15, 2016

Economic Journal - Friday, 4/15/2016

(as of 7:00 AM PST)

It looks to be a quiet day to wrap up was a very impressive week for the stock market, which saw gains of nearly 2%, continuing the strong rally of the last six weeks.  Oil is a sticky point for stocks this morning.  It is giving back some of its weekly gains.  A summit by OPEC leaders to limit oil production seemingly will have less impact than previously thought, with a potentially major producer, Iran, a no-show.  Iran is a key player because its oil production is ramping up again since international sanctions have been lifted on the country.  Adding Iranian oil to the current supply glut means that prices are very likely to struggle over the next few months.  The energy sector of the market is a big drain on indexes this morning, although stocks are stable near the unchanged point. Precious metals are higher after several days of significant losses.  International markets have also been very quiet overnight.  Corporate profit reports continue to be a driver, and results have generally exceeded very modest expectations.  It looks like this might be the trend of earning season.  Earnings are down, but not as bad as expected.  And that is enough to provide positive headwinds for stocks.

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