Dow gained 127, advancers over decliners 5-2 & NAZ climbed 294 after key earnings reports.  The MLP index went up 1+ to 207 & the REIT index stayed near 421.  Junk bond funds were in demand so far today & Treasuries saw more buying ahead of the Fed announcement later today.  Oil was up 2+ to the 97s & gold slid back 3 to 1715.

AMJ (Alerian MLP index tracking fund)

Home Purchase Activity Nears pandemic levels

  The interest rate sensitive housing market has started to cool noticeably in recent months as the Federal Reserve moves to tighten policy at the fastest pace in 3 decades in order to cool consumer demand & bring scorching-hot inflation under control.  Combined with high home prices, the rapid rise in borrowing costs has pushed many entry-level homebuyers out of the market.  A new report from Redfin last week showed that the share of sale agreements on existing homes canceled in Jun was just under 15% of all homes that went under contract – the highest since early 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

US new home sales drop to lowest level in 2 years

The White House announced that the Dept of Energy will be issuing a notice to sell 20M more barrels of oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of the Biden administration's effort to bring gas prices down.  This makes the 5th such sale that Pres Biden has authorized.  The White House continued to blame "disruptions posed by Russia’s invasion" for the high prices while claiming that the Biden administration's actions are making a tremendous difference.  "In fact, the Department of the Treasury estimates that as a result of these drawdowns both domestically and internationally, the price at the pump for Americans is up to about 40 cents per gallon lower than it otherwise would have been," the White House said.  While gas prices are down significantly since a recent national average price of more than $5 per gallon in Jun, the average is still $4.33, compared to $3.16 from one year ago & approximately $2.39 when Biden first took office in Jan 2021.  Reps slammed the White House after previous sales from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves after it was made known that Ms of barrels were being sent to European & Asian countries, including China.  "The American people deserve answers as to why our emergency energy reserves are being sent to foreign adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party, compromising our energy security and national security," House Energy & Commerce Committee Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers said.

White House will sell another 20M barrels of oil from US reserves

Tech earnings are driving much the excitement in the stock market.  However, everybody is still waiting to hear from the Fed later.

Dow Jones Industrials