Today’s close: up .51%
Caterpillar’s showing Tuesday reminds us how much better we feel when somebody stops punching us in the face. A quick jump to the upside at the open turned into a mildly annoying downward grind followed by a nice recovery into the close. Grandma always taught me never to complain about any up days in a bear market (even if you’re stuck with a bushel of worthless naked puts; “you had it coming,” she’d say). Full quote at Yahoo Finance.
Broader indexes were mixed: Dow, down .3% ; S&P 500, up .18% ; Nasdaq, up .5%. More at Market Watch’s closing recap.
Points for optimism: Oil prices recovered a bit and the market will get bored with pummeling Alcoa any day now. Neither price nor volume had much to say today. Expect lots of holding one’s breath and walking on pins and needles till Cat announces its earnings Jan. 26.