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This Week's Market Review

Although the Fed left interest rates unchanged for the first time since May 2004, terrorism worries and the possibility of further rate hikes left the stock market down for the week. The market is now also becoming worried that the Fed has gone too far in raising rates which would produce a slowdown in economic growth. With over 90% of the S&P 500 companies having now reported, it appears that operating earnings have increased 16% over the second quarter of last year. Other news for week included a breakdown of oil flow from Alaska that caused oil to spike over $77 per barrel before closing near $74 per barrel on Friday. There was little economic news for the week. Of note was the June retail sales jumping 1.4%, following two months of flat sales. Going forward, all eyes will be on the economic data, and if the data is too strong that could raise fears of further tightening. If the data is too soft, we could see fears of a recession. At this point the market does not seem ready for a breakout in either direction.

The DOW closed the week down, losing 152.02 points to close at 11088.33 The S&P fell 1.0%, dropping 12.62 points, ending the week at 1266.74. The NASDAQ lost 1.3%, shedding 27.34 points, ending the week at 2057.71.