Nasdaq higher. S&P flat. Dow down

The Nasdaq stocks have been the underachievers of late. There has been a rotation out of the tech stocks and a move into the more "industrial" sector. That is not the case for today though.

In trading today:

  • The Dow 30 stocks were lower by -57.11 points or -0.27% to 21410. The high reached 21492. The low 21390.
  • The S&P was near unchanged at -1.42 points or -0.6% to 2435.61. It's high reached 2442.23. The low 2430.74.
  • The Nasdaq was the big winner at +45.92 points or +0.74% to 6233.95. The high reached 6236.65. The low extended to 6200.86

Tech is back in vogue - at least for the day.

In the US debt market today:

  • 2 year 1.3481%, up 0.4 bp. The high reached 1.3604%. The low 1.3399%.
  • 5 year 1.773%, up 1 bp. The high reached 1.7848%. The low 1.7532%.
  • 10 year 2.1617%, up 0.5 bp. The high reached 2.1756%, The low 2.1425%.
  • 30 year 2.7281%, down -1.0 bp. The high reached 2.753%. The low 2.72%. This is the lowest since November 9th.

There are concerns about the flattening of the yield curve.

The yield curve flattens when the Fed raises rates in the short end and investors anticipate a recession or lower inflation in the future.

Inflation remains a concern for some Fed officials (and the market). Nevertheless, the Fed is also worried that if the economy goes into a recession, they won't have tools to re-inflate unless they raise rates. HMMMM. Quite a dilemma for the Fed.

PS oil prices traded as low as $42.05 today.

PSS Commodity prices are also lower. Below is a graph of the CRB/Thomson Reuters commodity index. It is trading at the lowest level since Feb of 2016.