No big moves. No major disruptions. No threats of meltdowns.
Today has been a welcome breather, a bit of stability, for  market that’s had more than its share of excitement this week.
So far. It’s only 1:30 p.m. in New York. And we could see selling or buying before the weekend.
And stability today could be only a set up for more action next week. We do have the regular Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday, April 29, after all. Right now the CME FedWatch Tool puts the odds of the Fed holding interest rates steady (current benchmark is 0% to 0.25%) at 100%. But I have heard talk–wishful thinking, I believe–that the Fed will go negative on Wednesday.
As of 1 p.m. New York time, however, the Standard & Poor’s 500 was up 0.36% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average had gained 0.12%. The NASDAQ Composite was ahead 0.60% and the Russell 2000 small cap index had climbed 0.25%.
Gold was down 0.65% to $1734.10 an ounce and silver was off 0.88% to $15.39 an ounce.
U.S. crude benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up 2.73% but the June futures contract was still below $20 a barrel at $16.95. International benchmark Brent crude was up 1.64% to $21.68 a barrel.
The VIX, the CBOE S&P 500 volatility index, continued the drift lower this week to 38.00, down another 8.17%
The yield on the 10-year Treasury was unchanged at 0.60% and the yield on the 2-year Treasury was just 1 basis point lower from yesterday at 0.21%.
