Stocks Gain On Positive Economic Data; Elon Musk, Tesla Sued By SEC

The Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped a three-day losing streak and the S&P ended its own four-day skein as positive economic numbers boosted confidence, leading to spirited buying early in the session.

Euphoria faded as the day wore on, however. The Dow was up nearly 170 points close to 1:00 pm EDT, but sold off through the afternoon into the close, losing two-thirds of the day's gains. Similar patters were noted on the S&P and the NYSE Composite. The NASDAQ lost some value, though the afternoon swoon was not nearly as severe as on other indices.

The good news came prior to the opening bell. The third estimate of second quarter GDP held steady at 4.2% and durable goods orders for August soared by 4.5%. Upon further review, the durable goods number appeared much weaker than the headline, as much of the increase was supplied by non-defense aircraft orders, which were up 69% and defense capital goods order were up 44%.

Late in the day, word circulated that Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors (TSLA) was being sued for fraud by the SEC.

The SEC alleged that Musk made "false and misleading statements" when he casually stated and tweeted that he could take the company private at $420 a share and also alleged that Musk's tweets caused market chaos, harming investors.

If the SEC's claims hold water, Musk could be stripped of his position and barred from ever running a publicly-traded company. He would also face stiff fines.

The news came too late in the day to affect trading on Thursday, though the stock was down between 10 and 13 percent in pre-market trading Friday morning.

Musk has been a controversial leader of the company he founded, but seems to be beset by psychological demons and may be bi-polar. In addition to his frequent affronts to sensibility, the company has never turned a profit and is deeply in debt. Additionally, Tesla autos have been known to burst into flames upon impact and its auto-pilot feature has been cited by some as a cause for lack of control, leading to a high rate of accidents.

Dow Jones Industrial Average September Scorecard:

Date	Close	Gain/Loss	Cum. G/L
9/4/18	25,952.48	-12.34	-12.34
9/5/18	25,974.99	+22.51	+10.17
9/6/18	25,995.87	+20.88	+31.05
9/7/18	25,916.54	-79.33	-48.28
9/10/18	25,857.07	-59.47	-107.75
9/11/18	25,971.06	+113.99	+6.24
9/12/18	25,998.92	+27.86	+34.10
9/13/18	26,145.99	+147.07	+181.17
9/14/18	26,154.67	+8.68	+189.85
9/17/18	26,062.12	-92.55	+97.30
9/18/18	26,246.96	+184.84	+282.14
9/19/18	26,405.76	+158.80	+440.94
9/20/18	26,656.98	+251.22	+692.16
9/21/18	26,743.50	+86.52	+778.68
9/24/18	26,562.05	-181.45	+597.23
9/25/18	26,492.21	-69.84	+527.39
9/26/18	26,385.28	-106.93	+420.46
9/27/18	26,439.93	+54.65	+475.11

At the Close, Thursday, September 27, 2018:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 26,439.93, +54.65 (+0.21%)
NASDAQ: 8,041.97, +51.60 (+0.65%)
S&P 500: 2,914.00, +8.03 (+0.28%)
NYSE Composite: 13,105.72, +3.77 (+0.03%)