The Markets (as of market close October 18, 2019)
For the second week in a row, each of the benchmark indexes listed here (except for the Dow) posted gains last week. Stocks got a boost from some strong third-quarter earnings reports as several large financial institutions recorded strong earnings. The S&P 500 came close to reaching its record high earlier in the week, while the small caps of the Russell 2000 surged ahead by more than 1.50%. Long term Treasuries saw yields fall slightly as prices inched up on news of another stalemate on new attempts to reach a Brexit accord and weak U.S. retail figures.
Oil prices dropped last week, closing at $53.71 per barrel by late Friday afternoon, down from the prior week’s price of $54.77. The price of gold (COMEX) rose last week, closing at $1,493.60 by late Friday afternoon, up from the prior week’s price of $1,491.70. The national average retail regular gasoline price was $2.629 per gallon on October 14, 2019, $0.016 less than the prior week’s price and $0.250 less than a year ago. Click here for more:Winthrop Partners Weekly Update 10-21-19