The markets today continued to see the whipsaw, back-and-forth trading pattern that they've been stuck in for weeks. This time the market was reacting President Trump, who tweeted that missiles will be coming to Syria; this in turn provoked Russia to say that they will shoot down any missiles aimed at Syria. The Dow 30 was lower by 216, the S&P 500 sold off 14, and the Nasdaq 100 closed lower by 25 at the possibility of conflict.
The move today was led by the banking sector, as Morgan Stanley (MS ) lost 2.5% and Goldman Sachs (GS ) sold off 1.4%. The bank stocks in general (XLF ) continue to chop around within a range, but many technical traders now think that support will give way as the bulls have had two weeks to buy this dip, but have not done so. American Express (AXP ) and JP Morgan (JPM ) were also lower on the day, which was part of the reason the Dow lagged behind.
Traders seemed to run for the safe plays like Gold (GLD ), Silver (SLV ), and Bonds (TLT ) in the face of today's weakness. Oil (USO ) was also strong today following yesterday's bullish move above resistance. Oil is now higher by almost 6% on the week.
Facebook (FB ) was once again a big focus as CEO, Mark Zuckerberg returned to Capitol Hill for more questioning, this time from the House Energy & Commerce Committee. The stock had a record day yesterday and continued its push higher today, adding 0.78%.
