At the close of Monday, June 22nd, the S&P 500 was down 1.1% year-to-date while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 5% year-to-date. So far this quarter, however, both reported positive increases: the S&P was up 11.9% and the DJIA 9.6%. The NASDAQ year-to-date showed an increase of 12%, down from last week’s 17.5%. After a very aggressive upward move off of the March 9th lows, the markets appear to be taking a breather. World-wide economic growth and recovery are currently being questioned.

While foreign markets are doing well, the current yield of 10-year Treasury bonds is 3.69, down significantly from the 3.98 we saw earlier this month. The prices of gold and oil are down as well, with oil dropping from the low 70s to the high 60s. But with the number of new home starts up and the number of weekly unemployment claims stabilizing, the economy seems to be showing signs of life.

At this point, we really need the government spending programs to actually kick in. Though the money has been appropriated, very little has been spent; for economic growth to really begin, this money needs to work its way into the economy. Until then, we should be in a trading range for stocks.