Market Commentary, 02/23/18

Last week both the Dow and the S&P came roaring back with gains of 4.25% and 4.3%, respectively, resulting in the Dow’s largest weekly increase since November 2016 and the S&P’s largest since 2013. This holiday shortened week began with two negative days. Both days the market moved higher in the morning only to sell off late in the day, in fact the Dow on Wednesday fluctuated over 470 points from the high to the close. The last two days started and maintained the gains, with the Dow closing up over 347 points today, resulting in a weekly return of 0.36% for the Dow and 0.55% for the S&P. (Source: John Hancock)

Despite the early weakness, the stock market showed signs of strength as the gains held late in the week. We took advantage of the market movement and put some of the cash in the TD Ameritrade accounts to work last week. The fact that the market closed in the positive today is a pivotal bull market indicator in our opinion. Considering the late day selloffs earlier in the week, two days of wire-to-wire gains are a sign of continued market strength. Our expectation is that the worst of the market volatility is behind us and we are headed to a healthy market, at least until summer.

Regards,

Jeremiah Patterson, CFP®
Copelin Financial Advisors
514 Brooks Street
Sugar Land, TX 77478
Phone: 281 240-2902
Fax: 281 240-2856
jeremiah@copelinfinancial.com

Securities offered through ProEquities, Inc., a Registered Broker-Dealer and Member FINRA & SIPC Advisory Services offered through Harvest Investment Services, LLC., a Registered Investment Advisor Copelin Financial Advisors, Inc and Harvest Investment Services, LLC are independent of ProEquities, Inc.