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The week that was
The strength in copper, WTIC oil, gold, and the NASDAQ was noteworthy. We had pronounced weakness in natural gas, the VIX, lumber, wheat, and corn.
The weakness in natural gas was a bit surprising given that we're entering winter heating season, and it's likely that the Freeport LNG terminal will be online in March, giving the market little breathing room to rebuild after a seasonally strong time for natural gas prices. Although winter temperatures in many have been higher than normal, and natural gas production is exceeding demand as a result.
We saw weakness in energy and pockets of strength in technology services, electronics, health tech, retail, and consumer non-durables, consumer services, and industrial services during the trading week.
Part of the demand for technology stocks appeared to be related to a big move down in rates, with the 30-year bond falling to 3.548% and 10-year note yields falling to 3.492%.
