It was a unique week in that the weekly performance equaled the Year To Date (YTD) performance with the S&P 500 closing up at 3895. With Monday being a holiday, the markets bounced around on Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesdays close also marked the end of the Santa Claus Rally with the S&P 500 closing at 3852, which was higher than the opening 3815 for a bullish sign. However, this changed on Thursday when we saw the first over one percent downward move of the year with the S&P 500 holding just above the 3800 level. Before the markets opened on Friday the December jobs report showed that the U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs, slightly higher than the expected 200,000, and that wages grew at 0.3%, lower than the expected 0.4%. Showing signs that inflation may be cooling, the markets rallied at the open and throughout the day. In the last hour we crossed above the 3900 level, reached a high of 3906, crossed above its 50 day Moving Average (MA) of 3904 briefly, before closing at 3895. Additionally, Fridays S&P 500 close marked the first time it has crossed above its 20 day Moving Average of 3875 since 14 December, another bullish sign. And in last weeks update we mentioned that Wouldnt it be nice to see the S&P 500s low point for 2023 being 3 January. Well 2023s YTD low point did come on 3 January at 3794, and wouldnt that be nice. The bond market was also bullish on Friday as the 10 year Treasury yield dropped 20 basis points to 3.56%. Next week is the first full trading week of the year and on Tuesday Fed Chair Powell will speak at 0900 so standby for a volatile open. Also, before Thursdays open we get the inflation numbers. For TSP TIPS, we do like those bullish signs in the S&P 500/C fund and also the I fund hit its highest mark since 26 April. As such we are recommending the following new investment mix.
It was a unique week in that the weekly performance equaled the Year To Date (YTD) performance with the S&P 500 closing up at 3895. With Monday being a holiday, the markets bounced around on Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesdays close also marked the end of the Santa Claus Rally with the S&P 500 closing at 3852, which was higher than the opening 3815 for a bullish sign. However, this changed on Thursday when we saw the first over one percent downward move of the year with the S&P 500 holding just above the 3800 level. Before the markets opened on Friday the December jobs report showed that the U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs, slightly higher than the expected 200,000, and that wages grew at 0.3%, lower than the expected 0.4%. Showing signs that inflation may be cooling, the markets rallied at the open and throughout the day. In the last hour we crossed above the 3900 level, reached a high of 3906, crossed above its 50 day Moving Average (MA) of 3904 briefly, before closing at 3895. Additionally, Fridays S&P 500 close marked the first time it has crossed above its 20 day Moving Average of 3875 since 14 December, another bullish sign. And in last weeks update we mentioned that Wouldnt it be nice to see the S&P 500s low point for 2023 being 3 January. Well 2023s YTD low point did come on 3 January at 3794, and wouldnt that be nice. The bond market was also bullish on Friday as the 10 year Treasury yield dropped 20 basis points to 3.56%. Next week is the first full trading week of the year and on Tuesday Fed Chair Powell will speak at 0900 so standby for a volatile open. Also, before Thursdays open we get the inflation numbers. For TSP TIPS, we do like those bullish signs in the S&P 500/C fund and also the I fund hit its highest mark since 26 April. As such we are recommending the following new investment mix.