We were able to move the indexes and averages north for the first time in three weeks last week.
Some pointed to the fact that inflation while not tamed is at least slowing and should be coming down.
Moreover, most of the earnings reports were not particularly bad and the forecasts for the rest of the year were better than expected.
The glass is not full but it certainly is not empty.
This all happened in a month that is historically bad for equities.
You cannot deny that filling your car up is not as cheap as it was over a year ago, but it is much better than six months ago.
That said, it certainly is not cheaper filling up the grocery cart.
While it is not cheaper, I find that my grocery bill is not that far out of line.
I was surprised this summer that my electric bill was not that significantly higher.
I am concerned about the coming heating season as my minimum natural gas bill is up over 30%.
It may be time to get used to wearing everything in the closet by the time January gets here.
An excellent indicator should be whether retailers have to discount prices for the holiday season to work off inventory.
I listen to my friends and I see little or no reluctance to take vacation trips and the trips taken are not on the cheaper side.
I does make me wonder though how much of this is being financed on credit cards.
Reports of late indicate that balances have risen significantly and defaults are growing.
It just seems that most people I know have made adjustments where they can and are adapting to higher prices.
If that is the case, we should not have a recession.
Stagnant may be the new term of the day.
Until consumers sit on their wallet, this economy will not turn negative. Even if it does, it will not be that bad in my opinion.
You just have to appreciate that we have made our way through a pandemic, a war in Ukraine, higher cost of living and we are moving forward.
As such, it seems that we will endure the Fed interest rate hikes.
It already has slowed home sales, but they are not a problem yet.
Whether this market can find some reason to move distinctly higher is the big question.
It just seems that we will trade between 3900 and 4400 on the S&P 500 stock-index.
We bounced off the lower range for about the fourth time.
You may not be getting rich, but I don’t think it will be a lump of coal in stocking this Christmas.
