
May Market was Choppy as Stocks Digest Gains
The month of May was a choppy one in the market as stocks consolidated the gains made in April.
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The month of May was a choppy one in the market as stocks consolidated the gains made in April.
The three major stock market indexes made nice gains in April. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq each gained about 5% and the Dow gained 2.7%.
The big story in February was interest rates, not the short term rates that the Federal Reserve controls, but longer term rates set by the bond market.
After a very rough start in the first quarter, if the momentum we have going now continues for the last few weeks of the year, 2020 should end on a positive note. It also bodes well for 2021.
Looking at the period from the first of June through this writing on July 9th, it is easy to see that the economy is sending mixed messages.
In the last days of May, there appeared to be a disconnect between economic reality and the stock market. The market moved higher amid alarming economic numbers.