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Stocks traded in a tight range on a choppy Monday with a bit of little fishy action near the close. The close is really all that matters, especially if you made an IFT yesterday, and the big three indices, plus the small caps, all closed in positive territory. Another good month for stocks as July moves into the rear-view mirror with the Dow ending the month with its 15th gain in the last 16 sessions. Bonds were up with yields moving sideways to slightly lower.

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After Thursday's volatile sell-off, investors were relieved to see Friday's PCE Prices and Personal Income and Spending report which came in favorable as signs of easing inflation continues, which probably keeps the Fed at bay for a few more months. The Dow gained 177-points and it was the Nasdaq and small caps once again acting as the leaders. Bonds rallied with yields pulling back.

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Stocks opened the week in positive territory and traded in a tight trading range in the first half of the week up to the anticipated Federal Open Markets Commitee (FOMC) meeting policy decision and press conference on Wednesday. The FOMC raised rates by 0.25% as expected and left more rate hikes in future meetings on the table despite the Federal Fund rate reaching a 22-year high.

The market was unsure how to feel about the policy but the intial reaction was not to sell. ...

Stocks gapped open sharply higher on Thursday as the post Fed and post META earnings brought in another wave of buying. The early triple digit gain in the Dow made it appear that the winning streak would easy move to 14 days, a record since 1897, but it turned out that the opening gains were the high of the day, and stocks reversed lower the rest of the day. Bond yields moved sharply higher, as did the dollar, and that was a little too much to keep the winning streak in stocks going.
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After all was said and done following Microsoft and Google earnings, and the Fed's decision to raise interest rates by 25 basis points, the indices closed about as flat as we have seen them close in a long time. Maybe it's just me but do those intraday charts below look like the market is giving us, or maybe the Fed, the finger? A lot of indecision, even while Powell was speaking at the press conference. After being all over the map, the Dow gained 82 points and small caps and the Transports ...