Weekend Wrap: Friday's Big Gains Offset Thursday's Huge Loss, Dow Up Just 105 In 2019

Wall Street's week straddled 2018 and 2019, as Monday's session was the last of the prior year, and Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday starting off the new year.

Thus, the following final closing prices for the major indices, which will be instructive as we plow through the weeks, months, and quarters ahead:

Dow Industrials 12/31/18: 23,327.46
Dow Transports 12/31/18: 9,170.40
NASDAQ 12/31/18: 6,635.28
S&P 500 12/31/18: 2,506.85
NYSE Composite 12/31/18: 11,374.39

Two big trading days happened back-to-back, in opposite directions. Thursday's (1/3) downdraft was largely attributable to Apple's announcement that revenue for its fiscal first quarter (4th quarter) results would come in well below analyst estimates. December PMI from the ISM was also a contributing factor, insinuating a slowdown in the general economy, much of it tied to US-China trade tensions.

A blowout December jobs report was responsible Friday's about-face. Words from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell added fuel to the ascending fire. Powell stated quite plainly that the Fed was going to be flexible about raising rates and drawing down its balance sheet, which is pulling $50 billion a month out of the bond market.

After all was said and done, the week was just so-so, though the bias was obviously trending positive. There's some inkling of manipulation and coordination of and by the PPT, especially since the Fed was so compliant with its dovish commentary. Nobody really wants a bear market, and the data from Friday's release of the December non-farm payroll report (312K actual vs. 122K projected) suggests that the economy is humming right along and President Trump's promise to create more US jobs is being kept.

The Fed's jawboning was well-timed, coming a day after a confidence-shaking 660-point drop on the Dow, but the remarks by Chairman Powell won't be the last time the Fed has moved the goal posts in search of expediency.

Dow Jones Industrial Average January Scorecard:

Date	Close	Gain/Loss	Cum. G/L
1/2/19	23,346.24	+18.78	+18.78
1/3/19	22,686.22	-660.02	-641.24
1/4/19	23,433.16	+746.94	+105.70

At the Close, Friday, January 4, 2019:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 23,433.16, +746.94 (+3.29%)
NASDAQ: 6,738.86, +275.35 (+4.26%)
S&P 500: 2,531.94, +84.05 (+3.43%)
NYSE Composite: 11,533.34, +342.90 (+3.06%)

For the Week:
Dow: +370.76 (+1.61%)
NASDAQ: +154.34 (+2.34%)
S&P 500: +46.20 (+1.86%)
NYSE Composite: +242.39 (+2.15%)