The markets continue to seesaw waiting on a response from Congress on the stimulus deal.  As of this afternoon, House Speaker Pelosi and the White House were “just about there,” but until Congress could approve a bill may be “a while.”

The major indices are mixed with the Dow the best performer and the Nasdaq the worst.

Energy is the best performing sector in the S&P 500 today.  Prices are rising on hopes of a potential stimulus deal, and WTI is up 2%, at $40.77, after suffering some sharp declines yesterday.  The latest EIA report shows U.S. crude oil stockpiles dropped by 1,001 million barrels, as global demand remains soft from the pandemic.  Gasoline inventories, on the other hand, rose unexpectedly by 1.895 million barrels.

Breadth is positive on both the NYSE and the Nasdaq with advancers outpacing decliner.

Moving On

Existing home sales in September rocketed up 9.4% to 6.54 million units, and above the estimates for 6.3 million.  This is the highest number since May 2006 and is the fourth consecutive month of gains. 

Low interest rates and Covid-19 (with people moving from cities and working from home) have driven the demand for single family houses.  There are currently 1.47 million existing home on the market for sale, a decline of 19.2% year over year. Median sales price also soared 14.8% compared to the prior year to a record level of $311,800.

Even sales in vacation spots have mounted large gains, which began to pick up speed in July, and as of September sales are up 34%.