The Closing Look

Stocks were quiet on Monday which was the last trading day of October. All the major averages ended lower in October with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average experiencing their third straight monthly decline. News was relatively quiet as investors continued to digest the latest round of mixed earnings data and continued watching the ongoing drama around the election. Since Friday’s FBI announcement, Clinton’s lead over Trump narrowed significantly as the election season enters its final week. Baker Hughes (BHI) merged with General Electric (GE) and October was the biggest M&A month on record. According to the latest data, around $337 billion in M&A news was announced, easily surpassing the previous high of $282.2 billion from January 2000. Companies are rushing to close deals before the Fed raises rates. Elsewhere, crude oil fell -4% after rumors spread over the weekend that OPEC will not reach a deal to cut production at its November meeting.

Gary’s Thoughts: Few notes: China ADRS coming in with a few breaking. The DOLLAR looks tired on the upside while a few COMMODITY areas emerging so watch for that. STEEL,GOLD,SILVER may be ready to rally. Keep in mind, November and December are often good months for markets but we will need to see better internals.