NASDAQ poised to drift a little higher

NASDAQ closed out the summer with a decent gain for the month of August, but now that we are past the Labor Day break it will be a whole new ball game. It may take a few days or even a week or two for the "big hitters" to get back in the saddle and clearly set their sights, so we may drift a little on cruise control before the market sets a more deliberate longer term trend.

 

Futures are up, indicating a little pop at the open, but the question is whether people will pile on to that rally or sell into it, and whether they reliably buy on any dips that occur during the day.

 

People are still struggling to settle on a comfortable "narrative" for how things will play out when the Fed officially ends its QE buying program in October, but I'm feeling that overall it will be kind of a wash by the time we get further into November. The pace of the real U.S. economy will be far more important, and currently that continues to be an incremental upwards trend, with no clear end in sight, albeit with plenty of potholes along the way.

 

Geopolitical concerns? Just noise that traders will use as cover for any consolidation they may want to periodically perform.

 

-- Jack Krupansky