It’s been a good session, although many recent worrisome trends continue.  Tech was weak out the gate with chip stocks lower, but all have since reversed. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is leading the way among large equity indices, as Boeing (BA) shares are surging on news of settlements with many of the victims of Lion Air.  Nike (NKE) is the biggest percentage gainer in the index on earnings news and Goldman (GS) is rebounding from another drubbing yesterday.

I think a big impetus not being discussed a lot today are comments from the Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, that his country has no intention of unseating the United States as the world leader.

"China has no intention to play the Game of Thrones on the world stage. The United States is and will still be the strongest country in the world.... We also hope the U.S. could open its door to China, removing all unreasonable restrictions."

This is huge, and it goes completely against Made in 2025 just a few days ahead of the 70^th anniversary of communism China.  This is really a big deal.  He went on to add he expects the United States to open its market wider for China and remove “all unreasonable restrictions.”

Later in the session, President Trump suggesting a trade deal with China could happen sooner rather than later:

"They want to make a deal very badly... It could happen sooner than you think”

It’s the Economy…Still

Sales of new single-family houses in the United States leaped 7.1% month to month to an annualized rate of 713,000.  The results blew away consensus, as August was the second-best month in the last twelve years.

New Home Sales

The market is still a very narrow range and trading is still tepid.  By the same token, market resolve remains firmly intact and buyers continue to emerge in pullbacks.